| CD REVIEW Demiurg |
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Band: Demiurg Demiurg were formed in 2006 by Rogga Johansson, one of Sweden’s most active musicians within the Death Metal scene – think Ribspreader (with e.g. Dan Swanö), Those Who Bring The Torture, The Grotesquery (with Kam Lee), Bone Gnawer (also with Kam Lee, as well as Morgan Lie and Ronnie Bjornstrom), Carve, Paganizer, The 11th Hour, Insision, Necromicon and many other bands and projects. In 2007, Mascot Records released the first Demiurg-album, Breath Of The Demiurg, and it certainly was one of the best Death Metal albums that very same year. Breath Of The Demiurg was recorded with session assistance of Dan Swanö (Bloodbath, Edge Of Sanity, Infestdead, Nightingale, Ribspreader, Brejn Dead and many others), who also produced the album, and Johan Berglund from This Haven (he’s also involved as session / guest musician with, for example, Ribspreader and The Grotesquery). Second full length, The Hate Chamber, released in 2008 through Mascot again, was a dark jewel too. This time Rogga worked with both former session musicians again, as well as his The 11th Hour-colleague Ed Warby (also in Gorefest, Hail Of Bullets etc), the latter also contributing as clean vocalist (very sporadically). Slakthus Gamleby, full length # 3, is recorded again at Unisound with the same line-up, yet with addition of Marjan Welman, the new singer of Dutch Autumn. Her collaboration is one of the several differences between Demiurg’s earlier and new material. Marjan has a fine voice, and her contribution is nice, eve though I wonder why Rogga started introducing female vocals… Another difference is the ‘softer’ approach. All right, the album still breathes ‘old school’, the Swedish one (evidentially), but it isn’t as brutal as before. More melodic passages, more keyboard lines, more melancholy this time… The main tempo is slower in general, and this time there are more catchy elements and melodies. Yet beware: it does not mean Demiurg have gone weak; tracks like “Cold Skin” or “The Cold Hand Of Death” are strongly comparable to some of Rogga’s heavier bands (Ribspreader, Carve) – in its totality it’s just not as brutal as both former albums are. This one comes closer to Edge Of Sanity’s musical evolution during the first part of the nineties (’93-‘96-era) instead of, let’s say, Unleashed or Grave. Another difference might be the injection of modern, progressive elements (not the so-called Prog-way, luckily!). The focus lies on ‘old school’, but some things (the female vocals, certain riffs, the sound, some synth-lines etc) are more 21st-century-oriented. In short: I was moved to tears by both former albums; this time I’m not. But: nice indeed… 80/100 Ivan Tibos. |
