REGURGITATION OF BLOOD

Although DEMILICH only released one full-length album, they did release four demo EPs leading up to 'Nespithe.' REGURGITATION OF BLOOD is the first of the series spanning the years of 1991 and 1992 and contains but one single track 'Uncontrollable Regret Of The Rotten Flesh.' It is a lengthy morbid beast clocking in at 12:13 but displays the band's progressive tendencies from day one. While the sound of this murky and grim sounding hellish track is clearly DEMILICH with the unique death metal gurgled vocals in the vocal fry register which really does sound like it was recorded in the depths of hell, the guitar riffs and accompanying instrumentation are much more basic and more akin to their thrash, grindcore and early death metal pioneer influences such as Bolt Thrower, Pestilence, Carcass and Napalm Death. For a murky demo though the talent really shines through despite this being the very first thing the band ever recorded. No need to hunt this down as it was released in cassette form only and probably impossible to find in that format. Instead find this on the digitally remastered compilation '20th Adversary Of Emptiness' which includes every single thing the band ever recorded.

"Regurgitation Of Blood" is the first demo recording by Finnish death metal act Demilich. The demo was independently released in April 1991. It was recorded and mixed on the 30th of March 1991. Demilich was at that point a trio and "Regurgitation Of Blood" doesn´t feature their future trademark twisted guitar harmonies. "Regurgitation Of Blood" features only one track which is the 6:26 minutes long "Uncontrollable Regret Of The Rotten Flesh".

While it´s maybe a bit unusual for a band to put out a one-track demo, Demilich felt they were in a bit of a hurry to get something out there, as contemporary Finnish death metal artists like Demigod and Sentenced had strong demo releases out, and there was a sense of competition in the mind of band leader/main composer Antti Boman, who wanted to be recognized as one of the most unique artists on the scene.

While "Uncontrollable Regret Of The Rotten Flesh" certainly sounds like Demilich and also features some of the laid-back heavy grooves of the subsequent releases, there is a strong Carcass influence here too, which isn´t as dominant on subsequent material from Demilich. "Uncontrollable Regret Of The Rotten Flesh" is still quite the impressive composition featuring many twists and turns and Boman´s otherworldly burbing growling vocals are already in the making. The demo features a pretty lo-fi, murky, and unpolished sounding production job, and it´s not always easy to make out what´s happening. It´s still a both effective and charming release though, and for all the warts and faults of the demo I still think a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).