DISMENT OF SOUL

"Disment of Soul" is the first demo recording by Finnish death metal act Amorphis. The demo was independently released in January 1991. Amorphis was formed in 1990 by drummer Jan Rechberger and guitartist Esa Holopainen after their former band Violent Solution split-up. Former Violent Solution guitarist Tomi Koivusaari, who had spend 1990 playing and recording with Abhorrence was asked to join on guitars and vocals (Abhorrence had just disbanded), and the last piece of the puzzle was the addition of bassist Olli-Pekka Laine.

Stylistically the material on "Disment of Soul" is more or less a continuation of the raw and brutal old school Scandinavian death metal style of the Abhorrence releases, which is only natural as Koivusaari was the main composer in both Abhorrence and on the early Amorphis releases. The quality of the material and the quality of the sound production are not quite up there with the Abhorrence releases though (this at times sound more like a rehearsal demo than a demo recorded at a studio), but this was still early days for Amorphis and they would fast evolve their sound and hone their skills. Upon conclusion "Disment of Soul" is a decent quality death metal demo, but it´s not up there with the greatest contemporary Finnish demos by artists like Abhorrence, Disgrace, Xysma, Funebre, and Demigod. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).