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Hesternum hails from Austria and plays a depressive black metal style that is as good as I can get. While a handful of bands these days can actually be called good or interesting, Hesternum is damn good. The music here crosses the borders of ambient and electronic, but never loses the black feel throughout. At times the John Carpenter feel comes out, as it does in the track “Ambivalenz,” which sounds like a suspenseful keyboard from either Escape From New York or Halloween; this little addition makes a world of difference by setting the structure apart from the ho-hum of unoriginal efforts.

Within these tracks there are a myriad of devices and implements being harnessed to a fine degree; the moodiness and dismalness of the demo is never lost, and while there isn’t a Silencer or Bethlehem vibe going on to the nth table, there is a manageability of coldness and despair that never relents and is well-constructed chaos. “Nachtrabe” is a frightening entrance into the blackness of anger and solitude that might otherwise be boring and generic if not for the agonizing screams that never appear forced or contrived. The mixture of hauntingly resilient atmosphere and perfect timing for said surroundings are impeccable; the capturing of true horror is done to a mighty fine degree here. The aspects of dim and inner strife are so well done on this demo that I think it should be held up as a catalyst for all future depressive black projects to review before attempting some simpleton’s foray into the genre.

Everything you could want in a foreboding, evil demo is here in Hesternum’s six somber songs. Color me not only blackened, but more than a little impressed.  
Everwhere, Hesternum, Reflections in Ruin & Trailer Park Massacre
November 21, 2010
CHRIS
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Everwhere - Black Dawn
Sweden’s Everwhere has managed to impress me with this Black Dawn demo for one undeniable reason: the band plays an ancient time of thrash metal that mixes the perfect amount of modern elements with some distant flavor. Black Dawn showcases some of the early masters’ influence as well as some fine melodic implements.

“Black Dawn” has the old Metallica sound in the opening riff and certainly “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is channeled without relying on blatant chord-lifting. It’s truly awesome to hear a band pay homage to Metallica without just up and stealing from them in a vain attempt to call itself “old-school.” With so many pretenders, who can differentiate the bands now? The production on this demo is wonderful; I think Fleming Rassmussen would highly approve. There’s a generous amount of new-era substance here without losing the original idea, and tracks like “Claustrophobic” call out the gods of yesterday and steal some past glory with great power chord riffs and some solid drumming. It’s so cool to hear a drummer confident in him or herself that there is no need to blast beats at every ¾ time change. Keep it simple, sir…works every time! The occasional exploding guitar riffs, especially in “Your Time Will Come,” also makes for a good change of pace when a note structure becomes stale or predictable.

Vocally there is very good tone that is perfect party to the tone of the songs, even if it is a bit like old Dark Tranquility as opposed to, say, Exodus, but therein lay the modern sensibility. All in all, Everhwere is a damn good band to check out and watch.
Reflections in Ruin - Demo 2009
Release Date:  August 8, 2009
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  The Ocean, It Drowned Me  2.  Evoke       
-    Total playing time:  7:17
Baltimore’s death metal unit Reflections in Ruin offer up a two-track demo of raw, somewhat polished death metal that rides the very fine line between hardcore and melodic death. The Cannibal Corpse feel throughout is quite evident, and yet there’s small elements of pretty much every death metal band in here. “The Ocean, It Drowned Me” is a trek along the rails of complete destructive death, complete with slowdown and time changes that are interesting if too abrupt in spots. It doesn’t make for a bad song at all, but it sometimes alters the train of thought too quickly.

“Evoke” pulls out an Edge of Sanity feel and is the stronger of the two tracks. The brutal assault of the main riff, followed by the melodic bridge and total switch between tempos is a damn fine effort that shows this band might go on to create some even better songs. The vocals are garden-variety harshness with a slight melodic twinge that borders on metalcore, but falls just short of the total shift in priority. For what it’s worth out of two songs, Reflections in Ruin seems like a band that has some good tunes in its arsenal, but what they do with said materials remains to be seen.    
Hesternum - Demo 2010
Release Date: May 11, 2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Kainzelle  2.  Ambivalenz  3.  Journey  4.  Nachtrabe              5.  Immerfeste  6.  Spiegelwerk 
-    Total playing time: 32:39
DOWNLOAD Begin FREE from the band's myspace page (click on link above).
Release Date: June 28, 2009
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Your Time Will Come  2.  Claustrophobic  3.  Awake             4.  Black Dawn  5.  Two-face
-    Total playing time: 26:21
DOWNLOAD Black Dawn and other releases FREE from the band's official website: Everwhere
DOWNLOAD Demo 2009 FREE from the band's bandcamp page: Reflections in Ruin
Trailer Park Massacre - Demo 2010
Swiss deathcore is not an everyday thing, that’s for sure. In fact, other than Celtic Frost or Coroner, Switzerland is really unfairly left off the metal map, so Trailer Park Massacre offers its plundering three-song demo of seemingly down-tempo death metal that doesn’t race itself with boring, expedited riffs. With low, growling vocals that are fitting for such a sound, this demo wreaks havoc on the head as to what avenue of physical appreciation to take. Do you bang your head in intervals? Do you just nod accordingly to the discernable drums and distant, yet applicable bass? Do you just sit back and take in the death metal splendor of a powerful track like “Inside” and get a little angry that there are only three songs to this offering? The answer is yes to all three; some of the slowest aspects of death metal are inherent here, proving that slow and steady wins the race every time. While there are caustic moments in each song that cause random violent thoughts, the reliant nature of heavy-over-speedy makes Trailer Park Massacre’s 2010 demo one to keep an eye on for future reference.      
Release Date: June 21, 2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Cataplectic Taxidermy  2.  Leastrygonian  3.  Inside       
-    Total playing time:  11:09
DOWNLOAD Demo 2010 FREE from the band's myspace page (click on link above).
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