____








____



____
REVIEWS
Featuring Legendary, Local and Undgeround Heavy Metal.
THE DEMO CORNER
NEW UPDATES
THE DEMO CORNER
THE BLOG
REVIEWS
INTERVIEWS
Moonspell          Sepultura            Velnias
Pharaoh                  Vektor             Graveyard
CONCERT REPORT
As far as suicidal black metal goes, it’s close to becoming a trendy fashion to feel depressed and orchestrate these feelings and forlorn fantasies onto digital record. These bands are popping up in vast numbers now as well, so it’s always a challenge to weed out the garbage from the truly inspired.

Lithuania’s Cheerful Depression might have a contrived oxymoron for a moniker, but the nearly ten-minute intro leading up to the despair and wickedly tempestuous nature of this five-track epitaph tells the tale. Once “Sleep Forever” kicks in with its Burzum-esque somber chord structure you can connect with your inner sadness quite easily. Herein lay the intricacies; the music has an element of surprisingly cheery depression. The best way to explain this is to find small hints of the “up” sounding effects “Sleep Forever” that truly befuddle and enchant the seasoned listener. This goes wayside with “Anxiety” which showcases some decent black metal with some processed vocals that are either hit or miss, depending on your preference. They sound evil enough to warrant inclusion, yet typical enough to possibly focus on the underlying music. Either way you can enjoy what you’re hearing.

The lone creator of this melodramatic piece is Martynas, and he manages to do a pretty good job of finding the mood and destroying it within the boundaries of suffering and social destitution. All in all, the demo is really good and should be a choice above the others in a flood that sees yet another good idea rasped beyond all reason.
Carnivor, Cheerful Depression, Dozër  & Psychosis
January 22, 2011
CHRIS
All content © 2011 Metal Psalter Webzine  |  Bands, labels, artists and photographers retain their respective © to their logos, artwork and photos  |  Design and Layout © 2011 Dynamico Designs
*Comments:
*By clicking "Submit" you agree to the following Terms of Use. You agree not to post any material that is obscene, slanderous, or threatening, or that may violate any law of your country of origin or the United States or of international law. Should you wish to restrict viewing of your email address by third parties, you must select "Hide My Email." You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Metal Psalter from any claims, actions, suits, damages, or other costs arising out of any breach of these Terms of Use.
Carnivor - Demo 2010
Austria’s tech-death trio Carnivor manages to do the absolute unheard of and excite and surprise me with death metal that is not only very good, but chock full of progressive elements that are impressive as all hell.

With three songs this band manages to completely throw convention and expectation out the nearest window and fill the void of redundancy with some incredibly chords and sweeping patterns that are nothing short of terrific. I was seriously angry that the demo ended at three tracks, but I listened to it twice and was more impressed the second time around with the border between brutal death metal that can melt your face and intricate attention to style that is otherwise lost in this genre. “Apocalyptic” is my favorite track simply due its roller coaster effect of fast, slower, fast, slower, sweeping, riffing…the song just has it all. The bass alone had me wanting more! The drumming is also quite impressive, with a brutal overwork that just says “This hurts!”

Well-produced and overly talented, Carnivor needs to break out of the basement of anonymity and find a label to get its death metal out there for the masses. I implore you to check them out for yourself.
Dozër - Demo 2009
Release Date:  2009
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Mrzim Te  2.  Ne Postojis  3.  Samo Tako  4.  Sloboda
-    Total playing time:  11:16
Hailing from Bosnia and Sarajevo, Dozër provides a sick soundtrack laced with punk, hardcore and thrash to make four violently resonating tracks. After four tracks that are as sick as they are heavy, Dozër might have some serious recognition coming its way with the right fine-tuning.

Punk and thrash are making nice bedfellows these days, especially with the run of ‘black thrash’ permeating the scene of late, but when it’ stripped down, bare-knuckle brawling in the back alley behind a club it doesn’t get much better than that! Dozër’s demo accomplishes a true sense of brutality within organized chaos for just over 11 minutes, further proving that there are good bands combining these genres to a fine degree.

“Sloboda” is easily my favorite track on the demo, pounding its way into your cranium and bouncing around like a .22 slug, damaging and making mush of your cognitive functions. Fast riffing, head-banging beats, powerful, yet discernable vocals (all in the bands’ native tongue) and fine production make Dozër a band worth checking if you’re into slamming and banging with a vicious temperament.  
Cheerful Depression - Demo 2010
Release Date:  May 24, 2010
Label:  Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  The Void (Introduction)  2.  Sleep Forever  3.  Anxiety  4.  Suicide (The Happy End)  5.  Outro (The Last Entry of My Diary)
-    Total playing time: 25:19
For a copy of Demo 2010 contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).
Release Date:  March 13, 2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Extinction  2.  Receiver of the Cleaver  3.  Apocalyptic
-    Total playing time: 12:07
DOWNLOAD Demo FREE from the band's myspace page (click on link above).
DOWNLOAD Demo 2009 FREE from the band's bandcamp page: Dozër Demo 2009
Psychosis - Demo 2010
Seems former Agent Steel/Steel Prophet vocalist Bruce Hall has found himself another gig in Los Angeles’ Psychosis, a thrash outfit that has been kicking around some metal since the early 90’s. While other bands seem to fall into the one-and-done pile of California metal history, Psychosis, now a five-piece unit, explores the progressive/thrash element and provides a nice mesh of equal parts old-school and modern-era thrash metal.

After 1992’s Lifeforce the band seemed to be put on hold while its members concentrated on other bands like Protoype, Heathen, and New Eden, but the band’s focus here is straight-ahead thrashing metal that slides the ever-fine line of progressive and technical metal so sweetly that it makes this EP a great find. Think of Bush-era Anthrax and you have a somewhat fair comparison, but that aside these three tracks run the gamut on bone-hitting heavy metal that doesn’t ring dated or trite. With some very solid riffs that carry the music up and over the wall of typicality this EP should be a solid pick for the metalhead in all of us that like carefully crafted progressiveness now and again.

All three tracks are really enjoyable and find the elusive vehicle of fine-tuned, well-produced heavy metal sorely needed in the underground we look to for unheard champions. You won’t be disappointed in the newly-resurrected Psychosis, so grab ‘em up!  
Release Date:  May 14, 2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Face of War  2.  Building Empires  3.  Broken Man
-    Total playing time:  15:28
To buy a copy of Demo 2010, visit the band's webstore here: Psychosis - Demo 2010
TO THE TOP
DEMO ARCHIVE