Band: Demonical
Title: Hellsworn
Label: Cyclone Empire
Distribution: Sure Shot Worx - Bertus
Release date: 15/05/2009
Review: CD

Demonical are a Swedish horde, founded in 2006 by (ex) members of e.g. Remasculate and Centinex. Two years ago, after signing a two-album deal with the upcoming label Cyclone Empire, the band debuted with the excellent album Servants Of The Unlight, which brought splendid Death Metal in the vein of Swedish old school masters as Centinex (of course), Grave, Edge Of Sanity, Dismember etc. Demonical performed on different festivals all over Europe (Metalmania, Obscene Extreme, Hells Pleasure, Up From The Ground, …), and did perform with bands as Dismember, Necrophobic, Nunslaughter or Grave. In mean time, the band also recruited Sverker ‘Widda’ Widgren (producer of e.g. Machinery and Setherial) as new vocalist since Ludvig Engellau parted ways with Demonical, and in December last year, the quartet (besides Sverker, the band consists of Johan Jansson-g, Martin Schulman-b, and Ronnie Bergerståhl-d) entered the famous Necromorbus Studio for the second time, known for recordings of Valkyrja, Watain, Ofermod, In Battle and Damnation Army amongst others.
Hellsworn in fact brings nothing new in comparison to the debut album. But who cares? Servants … was of a very high quality, so it means that this second full length is of such a high quality too. And indeed it is! The mostly fast and up-tempo tracks, built around a technical groove and a darkened base of underground-inspired brutality, are, piece by piece, skull-crushing and ear drum caressing at the same time. Every monstrous hymn comes with a cynical and sadistic sense of beauty and melancholy, paying tribute to the early years, when the whole Swedish (and at the same time, the European) was spawned unto Mother Earth and its deepest spheres. Think Centinex, Dismember, Carnage, or don’t think at all and just enjoy this inspirational musick as if we still are dwelling around during the first Swedish wave of magisterial old school excellence.

87/100

Ivan Tibos.