Commence Extirpation

More obscurity from Holland. Wishyouweredead were a death metal band formed by then-members of acts like Vermin and Hatred, bands that played often, released the necessary material, yet never managed to crawl out of the underground. And neither did Wishyouweredead, actually.

So what do these nice young men have on offer for us peasants? Stylistically, this is all very much of its time. Throw Skinless, early Dying Fetus and Sinister on a pile, add a dash of Nasum and Cannibal Corpse, and you're pretty much there. The band plows through a collection of short but varied songs that rely for a good part on blasting frenzy and rolling kick drum stomp. Slower parts with a slight doomy atmosphere also make some short appearances, but before you know it the band is out of the gates again, just mowing down all in sight. This is some seriously volatile stuff, and it is complemented in fitting fashion by a hoarse bark, courtesy of vocalist Laurens. Although it has a lot of elements that you'd find in the more brutal death metal bands of the time, Wishyouweredead do not completely fit the tag however, having a bigger reliance on full-on grindcore. Playing is competent throughout, and this whole demo has some serious aggressive tendencies emanating from it, even if not all tracks are as convincing.

Which brings us to the production. This is very clearly a DIY product, from the sound of it recorded in their rehearsal space, and it shows. The vocals sound as if they were recorded through a PVC pipe, the drums have a somewhat boxy audio (but sound OK for most part, though), and because there is no bass or double tracking, the guitar sounds flat. This sucks a lot of the power out of this offering, and gives the whole a bit of a neutered feel. It has to be said that even with this against them, their good intentions still shine through.

This is charming enough, but essential, not so much. What they do, they do good, even if the production isn't all that, but this is one of those releases that is primarily interesting for the death/ grind completist out there, I'm afraid.