Manic Depression - It's a Wonder We Aren't All Screaming Like Madmen In Our Sleep (1990)

Yeah, now this is what I expect when I think of punk: a low-fi recording with dead-simple guitar riffs, silly talked/shouted vocals punctuated by lots of shouting, political lyrics, and lots of attitude but little musical ability. Ugh... 45 minutes of this is hard to take.

Exoteracy - demo (1989)

This is punk, but it's actually pretty decent for punk. The songs are pretty fast and the guitars and drums are about as good as or better than some of the thrash demos I've been reviewing. The vocals are very punk -- mostly talking with a little bit of melody. The guitars are somewhere between punk and thrash -- the parts are more complex than average for punk and played with reasonable skill. The production is adequate -- everything is clear but lacks any real power. Owing to their punk roots, the songs are short -- although the demo is 10 songs, it's only 14 minutes, with the longest song being 2:02. Ultimately, this isn't a great demo, but it was good enough to get them signed for a full-length (in 1990).

Tardive Dyskinesia - Distorting Point of View (2006)

Boring, Meshuggah-inspired metalcore. They're supposed to be "metal/progressive/hardcore", but I think they forgot the "progressive". Sure, the playing is solid and the production is really good. But the band has nothing novel to say, so why bother? I suppose it's worth noting that they're from Greece, which means that fans of the style in that country can now see a quality live performance on a regular basis. But for the rest of us, this is nothing special.

Their MySpace page has four songs from this album.

Scourge - Crucifixion Contradiction (2009)

This is boring Swedish groove metal/thrash. It sounds dated, and doesn't really sound Swedish -- it sounds more American to me. Anyway, the production is great, but that's about the best thing I can say about this. The songs are mid-paced and generic, the guitar solos are pointless wankery, and the vocals are hoarse-shouted without a lot of feeling. There isn't a lot of melody here, it's mostly groovy chuggah-chuggah riffs. I suppose there's a market for this kind of music, but it doesn't seem exceptional to me in any sense; it's just another also-ran in a crowded field.

Their MySpace page has all five songs from this demo, plus the two from their previous demo.

The Collins/Wardingham Project - Interactive (2006)

Somehow this instrumental fusion/metal project found its way to my mp3 player. I'm not a big fan of jazz or fusion, but I've been acquainted with it ever since my guitar teacher in the late 80's introduced me to Gambale and Holdsworth. And this project reminds me of those two, plus some mid-90's MacAlpine. But aside from the inherent lack of direction in the songs, it's well played and produced and an enjoyable listen. They also deserve credit for making each song unique -- although most of the songs remind me of someone I've heard in the past, they don't seem to mix influences within songs. This strikes the right balance between having enough diversity that the songs don't all sound the same and having too much diversity so that the songs don't have any character of their own. If I have a complaint about this record, it's that there isn't really any bass. The focus is on the guitars and keys, and they take turns taking the spotlight, but there seems to be a notable absence of bass. The songs also seem a little long sometimes -- the average song is nearly six minutes long, but three of the nine are over nine minutes each.

Their MySpace page has a good variety of tracks from the album.

Pestilence - Infected (1988)

This is pretty generic thrash in the West Coast style. It's competently performed and has decent production, but doesn't really stand out from the others at the time. In particular, the guitar solos are uninspired and the riffs and vocals are just plain boring. This isn't really noteworthy other than that the band later became Horde of Torment, and one of the guitarists went on to play in Machine Head for a few years. Other than that, you're not missing much if you never hear this.

Laniena Mentis - Turn Into a Man (2003)

Decent death metal from the Czech Republic. It's moderately technical and they have some decent riffs. The production is top notch and the playing is solid. Vocals are standard guttural grunts, while the riffs tend to focus more on speed and dexterity than brutality, though this is certainly death metal more than thrash. There really isn't a standout song here, at least in a good way. The last two tracks are dance/industrial songs (are they remixes?) that are out of place and simply horrible. Other than that, the album is full of average songs played with better-than-average aplomb.

This album and all of their demos are available from their website.

Scalpal - 1990 demo

This is surprisingly not as bad as I was expecting. But it's still not good. It's generic thrash with horrible production. It's competently played but the songs are pretty boring. The vocals are half-talked/half-shouted and mixed low, so you can barely hear them at times. On the other hand, the bass is mixed pretty loud, so that's a good thing. Strangely enough, the final track -- the instrumental "Living Inferno" -- showed some potential before it faded out. Why they decided to fade it out after just over a minute baffles me. But other than that, this 7 minute demo is really just a curiosity at this point; there's nothing here really notable.

Mutilus Mucous - Don't Wipe It Off On Me (1988)

This is pretty generic thrash from northern California. You really already know what this sounds like, so I won't spend too much time on that, except to say that it's competently performed but the production could use some work -- it's so trebley that it's hard to really hear the guitars well. What's remarkable about this demo are the vocals: they're horrible. But I'll give the band credit for being honest -- the credits list main man Manny Bravo with "guitars, bass & 'I can't sing but I'll sing' vocals". Manny: you're right -- you can't sing. That's why the best song here is the six-and-a-half minute instrumental "Fee Fie Phobia". But that's still really not worth listening to -- it's really just a pointless collection of thrash riffs with even more pointless soloing.

Leviathan - Leviathan (1992)

This is the demo from Colorado's Leviathan, who later went on to release Deepest Secrets Beneath in 1994 and a few other albums. I liked DSB, but the others didn't do much for me. Thankfully, this demo is in much the same style as DSB and is of roughly the same quality. The music is progressive/power metal, not overly technical but not overly hook-heavy either. The playing is pretty good and I find the riffs interesting and varied. Even the solos are tasteful and appropriate. I also like the singer's voice -- he's melodic without being whiny like James LaBrie can be. This is just a quality product all around. None of the five songs here are on DSB, so if you like that album, track this demo down.

Naked Lunch - El Terror De La Asfixia and The Illuminati (1994)

This is a pair of demos from a band mixing industrial with metal and a slight touch of goth. The music is repetitive and simplistic, with heavy use of sampling (the ones I recognized were mostly lines from movies). But like Ministry's Psalm 69, they liberally use metal riffs giving this more of a crossover feel than just straight metal or industrial. The singing is a mix of clean and distorted styles, with the clean vocals having a slight hint of Type O Negative in them. Both demos are of similar style and quality -- I couldn't tell them apart. I somewhat enjoyed these, even though it's not really my cup of tea. It's performed well, and was probably one of the earlier bands doing the metal/industrial crossover. That said, I'm probably not going to ever listen to them again.

Pitbulls in the Nursery - Impact (2001)

This is supposed to be technical/progressive death metal, and while it does have a semi-technical bent to it, I don't think it really qualifies for either the "technical" or "progressive" tags. That said, it isn't bad. It's pretty decent mid-paced death metal, with standard guttural vocals and brutal riffs performed with surgical precision. It doesn't really stand out to me as having a distinctive style, but then again it doesn't really sound like anyone either. They remind me a little of Canada's Augury (without the female vocals). Anyway, this is decent and shows some potential, but I'd like to see the songs a little more involved -- they seem some good riffs but seem to get bogged down repeating boring riffs more than they should. But the playing is solid and the production is excellent, so this is an enjoyable listen even as it is.

This demo is freely available from the band's website.

Caustic - Caustic (1992)

This 4 song EP was released before their 1993 full-length Malicious, and it's in much the same style. To my ears, it sounds like a Slayer ripoff, though competently performed for the most part. If you're into late 80's Slayer, you should enjoy this, but there's not much else to recommend it.

Charnel House - Prophesies of Terror (1991)

This is really, really bad. I've reviewed a lot of bad demos over the last couple of months. But this one might be the worst yet. The riffs are generic, the vocalist sucks, the playing is sloppy and the songs are boring. But what makes this demo so awful are the guitar solos. They are simply incompetent. The guy has no idea how to put together a solo, cutting in and out behind the background music. And when he does play, he misses notes. Finally, his tone is possibly the weakest solo tone I've ever heard. Simply dreadful, and painful to listen to. What makes this even more amazing is that it's from 1991. This could be excused if it was from 1985, but six years later there's no excuse.

FWIW, the band apparently went on to a reasonable career, eventually releasing a full-length album 10 years later. So they deserve some credit for sticking to it, because this demo is horrible.

Resistance - And Denied was their Future (1989)

This is technical but sloppy thrash. I can hear what they're trying to do, and if they could actually execute it, this would be great. Unfortunately, the riffs are too complex for them, and they're trying to play above their abilities. Their style is possibly best described as "a less chaotic and more American-sounding version of Sieges Even's LifeCycle". The riffs are technical and the songs are complex, with multiple riffs, time changes, and start/stop action. However, there are other weaknesses aside from the playing. The vocals are also weak -- they're more talked/shouted than really sung, and the guitar solos are pretty lame. It's a shame, because if this had been competently played, I'd be tempted to consider it a must-have tech-thrash demo. I would like to hear this re-recorded when they got better at their instruments.

The Regime - Dead Serious (1987)

This is a pretty odd demo. It's a mix of semi-technical thrash, neo-classical, and hair metal. Perhaps something like a mix of Motley Crue and Toxik with a Shrapnel-style guitarist. The vocalist sounds a lot like Vince Neil, but the music is more complex, even though the songs remain hook-heavy. The guitar work is really the highlight here. Sometimes his riffs are pedestrian and the songs are predictable, but usually they're a little more involved than was typical of the time. He really cuts loose during the solos, though. Unfortunately, this means that the solos don't fit the music at all. The best songs here are the 1.5 minute "The Reign" (thrash with guitar heroics at the end) and the neo-classical 1.5 minute "Etude #1", though both are more impressive technically than aesthetically. Surprisingly, I found the guitar solos better than the instrumentals. I probably would've loved this in 1987, but thankfully I'm a little wiser now.

Postscript: I listened to this before looking up the band's history. To my surprise, I already knew the lead guitarist -- Todd Salmonson (a.k.a. Todd Duane), who contributed one song to the awesome 1991 Shrapnel comp Ominous Guitarists from the Unknown.

Their MySpace page has two songs from this demo: "Ain't So Fuckin' Bad" and "Dead Serious".

Undamaged - Die Before Seeing the Light (1991)

Wow, this is awful. It's boring thrash with crappy tough-guy vocals. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The songs are boring and repetitive, the production sucks, the guitar solos suck, etc. I could give this some credit if it were released in the mid-80's, but this was released in 1991, so there's no excuse.

Zombie Corpse Autopsy - The Great Chain of Slaughter (2007)

With a name like Zombie Corpse Autopsy, I was expecting something more like straight-up grindcore or death/grind. But this is more melodic death -- reminding me somewhat of At the Gates' amazing TRitSiO -- with a combination of hardcore-singing and death grunts. As it wears on, the songs seem to get less melodic and more death/grind, and therefore less interesting to me. Even at their best (the 2 minute instrumental intro "Cascades of Carrion") they're not anything you haven't heard before.

This EP is freely available from the band's MySpace page.

Mechanism - Inspired Horrific (2009)

This is some interesting prog death metal from Vancouver, BC, featuring Gene Hoglan on drums, and Chris Valagoa (Zimmer's Hole) on vocals. It has an odd mix of vocal styles (grunts, shrieks, and harmonized melodic parts) and a hodge-podge of quickly changing riff styles. Some of it is moderately technical, but that really isn't the focus. Actually I'm not sure what the focus is, and that's my main complaint. There's some really good stuff here, but the quickly-changing styles never produces a smooth flow (as for example, Spawn of Possession do). The individual riffs and styles aren't particularly original, but the combination seems novel. I'm also not too convinced about the vocals. The grunts and shrieks are of course fine (how can you screw up grunts?), but some of the vocal melodies sound awkward and seem somewhat out of place. Personally, I'd like some more focus on the tech or progressive side. There are too many boring parts interspersed with the cool stuff. "Lord and Thief" is a good example: too much focus on the chuggah-chuggah. It's hard for me to believe that some label hasn't picked these guys up... though perhaps they're releasing independently by choice.

Check out their MySpace page for two representative songs from this album.

Restless Breed - After the Holocaust (1987)

Boring, generic thrash from 1987. The riffs are generic (with a few exceptions), the singing is of the standard high-pitched style, and the production is average. About the only thing remarkable about this demo are the horrible guitar solos. They're pointless and derivative, especially the solo from "The Real World", which borrows heavily from Randy Rhoads among others. With so little redeeming about this demo, it's easy to see why they released another demo and then split-up.

You can check out their MySpace page, which has all of the songs from their second demo, or this page, which has four songs from this demo.

In Line - Demo (1993) and Show No Shame (1994)

This starts out okay for the first minute, then it devolves into "tough guy" metal/hardcore. It has the requisite shouted angry vocals about being tough, fighting, never giving up, etc., and the necessary simplistic riffs. It's competently performed, but so what? It's boooooring. The self-titled demo is only three songs (really four, but two run right into each other) and is thankfully only 14 minutes. Show No Shame is four songs in only 13.5 minutes and is pretty similar in production and style. It does feature some more diverse (but not any better...) vocal stylings. About the only thing worthwhile about this demo is the bass playing. When they focus on the bass, I find it much more tolerable. But they'd need a complete overhaul to make these demos anything I'd listen to on a regular basis.

Gagas - All This World (2006)

Gagas hail from Slovakia and play a blend of rock, fusion, and metal. The closest comparison for me is an obscure Italian band called Ledel, who released a few demos and an EP in the late 90's. Encyclopedia Metallum says their style "is reminiscent of Gordian Knot", but this is really stretching it, in my opinion. Hematovore might be a better comparison point, but Gagas are much lighter and jazz-influenced. Their style really fuses jazz/fusion, rock, metal, and classical (they quote Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, for example), with a few other influences like techno thrown in at times. It's hard to classify as "metal", but then again it's not really rock or fusion either. The playing is unfortunately a little sloppy, especially the guitarist's pull-off technique. It would help them a lot if he could get that smooth and even. As it is, he's trying to play above his ability level and it shows. Ultimately, I enjoyed this, partly because I didn't know what was coming next. The band did a good job of mixing in a lot of different influences, but still keeping each song unique and relatively focused. Highlights for me included "The Oceans" (very much like Ledel), "Zooloo", and "The World of Kids" (the heavier tracks).

All of the songs are available free from the band's website.

Equinox - Auf Wiedersehen (1989)

Not to be confused with the Florida band, these guys hailed from Norway, and put out four albums in the late 80's - mid 90's. This is their debut full-length. Basically, it's pretty average thrash. It's not groundbreaking, but it's competent in the late 80's style. However, the vocals are horrible -- they're just monotonous shouting, both in tone and rhythm. Imagine James Hetfield with even less range... Moreover, the lyrics are trite and simplistic, and the guitar solos are pretty pointless too. There are a few good riffs here and there, but mostly this has been done by better bands. I did somewhat enjoy the instrumental "Violins", though it's not nearly of the quality of something like Deathrow's "Triocton".

Their MySpace page contains a few songs from this album -- "Stop!", the title track, and "Dead By Dawn".