### Daemonicus: Host of rotting flesh

#### 26/05/09 || Khlysty

OK, lemme ask you a question: imagine for a moment that you’re a five-piece band from Sweden that has the lofty ambition of making (in your own words) a fucking “old skool death metal” record. Ça va, up till now? OK, cool, then here comes the question: how fuckin’ difficult can this be? I mean, hey, you come from Sweden and, as we all know, Sweden’s main exporting goods are Abba, Volvo, tall blonde girls and fuckin’ death metal. So, you fuckin’ got the fuckin’ knowhow; hell, Swedes fuckin’ wrote the goddamn rule book on death metal!

So, please, can anyone tell me why I’m not very impressed with *Daemonicus*’ first outing? Look, I’m not saying that the record’s bad or unlistenable or sumpthin’, ‘kay? As we Greeks say, may thunder strike me, if I say something like that. So, no, the record is basically okay; it’s just that, in an oversaturated genre like death metal, you need something more than, y’ know, “okay music” to sink yer teeth in, so to speak. And Daemonicus –at least to these ears- don’t seem to offer this little extra, that would elevate them to the real up-and-comer status in death metal.

Of course, while listening to the record, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself really enjoying it. The songwriting is nothing spectacular, but at the same time is pretty solid and the band seems to be quite tight. The riffs are not interchangeable (always a good sign) and one does not need to know higher mathematics to decipher the songs (you hear this, all you technical death metal bands? I mean, c’mon, if I need to resort to my old Calculus books to understand your songwriting, the game’s already lost…). Also, the singer’s more raspy than belchy/growly and this helps the listener to understand at least the basic premise of each song (not that it’s particularly difficult; it seems that death in different packaging is the plat-du-jour…).

One other thing that me really likes is the fact that the band is not averse to a little melody and experimentation: for example in “Rituals” the orchestration contains something that sounds like a violin, or viola, or something like that (a real one? a synth? a fucked-up guitar? Don’t know…), which adds an eerie note to the song and makes it quite interesting, by Jove! Of course, this being an old skool death metal record, don’t expect a lot of forays into bizarre territory: this is about pounding the listener to a pulp, so these little touches (guitar harmonies in a couple of songs is another example) are few and far between.

Which brings me to the problem I have with Daemonicus: all the positive stuff I mentioned above do not seem a memorable record to make. When I listen to the songs, I enjoy them, thank you very much. But, when the record ends, I don’t seem to get all excited to listen to it again. The replay ratio it got during the days I’ve been listening to it was smaller than that of “Death of Jazz”, which is a 13-minute-long New-Orleans-funeral type composition by Wynton Marsalis. This is okay music, but it’s not gripping and it seems to lack the thing that made me salivate over Coffins or walk around with a stupid smile pasted on me mug while listening to Death Breath. Also, I wasn’t all that impressed by the production, which I found lacking, mainly in the low-end, but maybe that’s my fault, since I’m totally deaf and all my reviews are basically guesswork.

On a side note, what made a (not very good) impression on me, is the fact that on the band’s site, only two of the five bandmembers mention records coming before the 1990s in their “eight great albums” selections. Maybe this means nothing, but maybe it means that the band has not really listened to any music other than their chosen genre; that the band has entrenched itself, which, in my opinion, is not a good sign. Of course, this being their first record, one has to give them the benefit of doubt and to wait for their future releases.

So the bottom line is that Daemonicus present us a good first record, which is not anything groundbreaking or spectacular. It’s a solid old skool death metal effort, but it seems to lack the ingredients that would’ve made it something to really talk about. Let’s hope that the band will really move on from here and forge its own path in a genre that really needs new voices and renewed ideas.

A very low 6 out of 10.

- Released: 2009
- Label: ViciSolum Productions
- Website: www.daemonicus.nu
- Band
- Stefan Hagström: vocals
- P-O Wester: guitar
- Jörgen Persson: guitar
- Tommi Konu: bass
- Magnus Boström: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Baptism of the dead
- 02. Funeral for the living
- 03. Carnage
- 04. Unrest in peace
- 05. Dechristianization
- 06. Rituals
- 07. Welcome the dead
- 08. To feed upon flesh
- 09. Swarm of death
- 10. Breeding in decay