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 As a historical document of the early US death metal scene this is an interesting compilation, but it´s so and so with the listening pleasure.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.