THE NOCTURNUS DEMOS

"The Nocturnus Demos" is a compilation album released through Karmageddon Media in January 2004 by American, Florida based death metal act Nocturnus. The compilation contains the material from Nocturnus two demo tapes from 1987 and 1988 respectively. Both the "Nocturnus (1987)" and the "The Science of Horror (1988)" demos had only been available on cassette tape until the release of this compilation.

As a curiosity the tracks from the second demo appear first on the compilation while the tracks from the first demo are placed last on the tracklist. If we´re evaluating quality that´s a wise choice as the quality is generally much better on the "The Science of Horror (1988)" demo. I usually prefer a chronological track order though and I do find it a minor weakness when evaluating this compilation. The music on the first four tracks (from the second demo) are old school US death metal with progressive elements while the tracks from the first demo are raw and primitive old school US death metal.

"The Nocturnus Demos" is what I´d characterize as a fan release and even fans of the band may not want to use their life savings here. As a historical document of the early US death metal scene this is an interesting compilation, but it´s so and so with the listening pleasure. A 1.5 - 2 star (35%) rating is warranted.

A Karmageddon Media release of their two first demos on one CD.

A good idea in fact due to the demos selling for insane money on Ebay and other places. These are the two demos which launched Nocturnus onto the scene. I cannot remember those two demos, to be honest. Malevolent Creation, Morbid Angel, Atheist and Obituary (the two latter ones in their former disguises) was the bands from Florida which made the biggest impacts at that time. But Nocturnus debut album The Key changed all that.

The two demos here is acceptable, although with demo sound. Knowing Karmageddon Media too well, I don't think they did any sound improvements before they unleashed this CD. What you get is as raw as a steak tartar, direct from the bull. The music here is good and forms the basis of The Key. Hence, if you already have that album, you can safely avoid this CD. This is a decent CD, although only a collector's item.

2 stars (barely)