JHVA ELOHIM METH

"Jhva Elohim Meth" is the first demo recording by Swedish death/doom metal (later alternative/progressive metal) act Katatonia. The demo was independently released in July 1992. The first cassette tape batch was limited to 500 copies. Edge of Sanity frontman Dan Swanö was involved in the production of the demo and he also plays keyboards/sings additional clean vocals, helping out Blackheim (electric & acoustic guitars, bass) and Lord Seth (drums and vocals).

The demo features five tracks and a total playing time of 17:11 minutes. The two songs bookending the demo are shorter intro and outro tracks, while the three tracks in between are more "regular" length melancholic death/doom metal tracks. Only "Without God" from this demo would make it unto Katatonia´s debut full-length studio album "Dance of December Souls" (December 1993). The remaining tracks are exclusive to this release.

Stylistically the material is influenced by early Paradise Lost, but also other contemporary Swedish artists like early Tiamat and Cemetary. The very young band, who were only 17 years old (both members) at the time of recording this have created a very convincing good quality demo here, which also features a well sounding production job. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)