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DEMILICH

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal • Finland


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Demilich biography
DEMILICH was an extreme death metal band from Finland that formed in the early '90s and consisted of Antti BOMAN on vocals/guitar, Aki HYTÖNEN on guitar, Jussi TERÄSVIRTA on bass and Mikko VIRNES on drums. Ville KOISTINEN took over the bass guitar duties on the band's debut album "Nespithe". Released in 1993, the album became somewhat of a cult classic due to its intricate death metal riffs and extremely low gurgled vocals. The album is also notable for its long and rather complicated song titles and unconventional lyrics, which were written in code in the booklet.

Unfortunately for the fans, that band never followed up on their promising debut album and instead faded into obscurity towards the middle of the '90s. DEMILICH reunited for a series of shows in 2006 and finally played their final gig at the Jalometalli Metal Music Festival in Oulu, Finland on August 14, 2010.

DEMILICH is definitely not a band for the faint-hearted due to the extreme metal nature of their material. Recommended solely to the most extreme fans of death metal on the lookout for new thrills.

Biography by Rune2000

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DEMILICH discography


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DEMILICH top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.45 | 54 ratings
Nespithe
1993

DEMILICH Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

DEMILICH Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

DEMILICH Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.88 | 7 ratings
20th Adversary Of Emptiness
2014

DEMILICH Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

2.95 | 2 ratings
Regurgitation Of Blood
1991
3.00 | 3 ratings
The Four Instructive Tales... Of Decomposition
1991
3.00 | 3 ratings
...Somewhere Inside The Bowels Of Endlessness...
1992
2.95 | 2 ratings
The Echo
1992

DEMILICH Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Nespithe by DEMILICH album cover Studio Album, 1993
4.45 | 54 ratings

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Nespithe
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by King Brimstone

5 stars So heavy, Jesus Christ. Nespithe is the debut and only album by Finnish Death Metal band Demilich. Nespithe, which was released in 1993, became very quickly a cult classic because of its bizarre time signatures, raw sound, insane technicality and guttural vocals in the low fry register. It features eleven tracks that sound very similar as you would expect, and its can be perfectly described as classic death metal, with a few hints of prog here and there. It is remembered along with Gorguts' Obscura as a key album for the genre, since it helped in the development of the progressive death metal genre. So you can say it's essential for the genre.
 Nespithe by DEMILICH album cover Studio Album, 1993
4.45 | 54 ratings

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Nespithe
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Gorgut Muncher

5 stars The vocals of this album are identical to my english teacher's when the final spelling bee round starts.

This album is very similar to Gorguts' Obscura in the way that it's astonishingly brutal, heavy, very brutal, and I mean super heavy. Oh and it's also very brutal. Spread across eleven tracks with exaggeratedly long titles, Nespithe is the debut and only studio album by Finland band Demilich.

This album became a cult classic due to its pompous definition of Death Metal, it grabbed Death's music and made it far heavier and darker, with barely any melody and a toad singing on top. Good luck understanding what those lyrics even talk about! I can't say much about individual songs since most of them sound very similar, but they're the cream of the top of death metal.

To be fair it's sad that this was the only album this band released, considering how promising it looked and sounded. With that said I must say it's five stars for me. Absolutely love that album cover by the way, those girls are hot.

NOT RECOMMENDED TO PROG ROCK FANS!!!

 20th Adversary Of Emptiness by DEMILICH album cover Boxset/Compilation, 2014
4.88 | 7 ratings

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20th Adversary Of Emptiness
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

5 stars Just when you thought DEMILICH had lived up to their band name and transported themselves to another plane of existence, they return on this 20th anniversary release celebrating the release of their one and only full album "Nespithe." Here they have unleashed upon us a remastered boxed set of their entire output in a way that every band should. 20TH ADVERSARY OF EMPTINESS is a nightmare come true containing not only the remastered rerelease of "Nespithe" but also the four demos completely remastered as well: "Regurgitation Of Blood," "The Four Instructive Tales... Of Decomposition," ...Somewhere Inside The Bowels Of Endlessness..." and "The Echo." It wouldn't be a proper box set without a few new tracks unavailable anywhere else and they include three new tracks called the "Vanishing Sessions" from their brief comeback in 2006.

The double disc set i possess is chock full of detailed liner notes including an interview with DEMILICH founder and head deviant Antti Boman. The package is also lavishly graced with an entirely new album cover depicting the same grotesque world as seen on "Nespithe" The new cover is also from Turkka Rantanen but worry not for the original "Nespithe" cover is on the inside of the packaging obscured only by CD1 upon which it exists. The remastering job is excellently done and breaths new life into the 20 plus year recordings making them sound fresh and dynamic. Box sets rarely get the job done as well as this one. Not only is this the perfect one-stop shop to acquire DEMILICH's entire output but they also released several collectors items such as a 3LP set limited to 1000 copies with 150 on transparent blood red vinyl, 350 on transparent gloomy green vinyl and 500 on good old-fashioned black vinyl. Maybe not quite as exciting as a full-fledged new album but a perfect release of this unique band's entire history.

 Nespithe by DEMILICH album cover Studio Album, 1993
4.45 | 54 ratings

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Nespithe
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

5 stars After releasing four solid demos, DEMILICH solidified their technical death metal approach by evolving from the old school death metal similar to Bolt Thrower to the full-fledged progressive death metal band they would become on their first and only full-length album NESPITHE. The band is basically the brainchild of vocalist and guitarist Antti Boman who formed the band in Kuopio, Finland in1990. The band name DEMILICH comes from the Dungeons & Dragons game. A lich in the game is a spell caster seeking to defy death through magical means and a DEMILICH is a lich that exists long enough to reach a point in its evolution where it turns away from the physical realm and accesses other planes of existence. The title NESPITHE shows Antti Boman's love of world play as it is simply an anagram of "The Spine." This wordplay also finds its way into some of the tracks like "Erecshyrinol" which once the letters are switched around becomes "No Lyrics Here."

One of the most striking and immediate differences with DEMILICH in contrast to every other metal band out there is the immediate effect of the vocals. Antti Boman went somewhere few others in all of music go by employing extremely low gurgled vocals. This is called the vocal fry register and is the lowest of all vocalizations. Despite the evil sounding nature of this technique, it is used rarely in different genres ranging from gospel to country music but has found a more suitable home in its extreme forms in various forms of metal music with DEMILICH taking this to the utmost extreme where Antti sounds like he's gurgling his own blood or vomit or something equally disgusting! However once you've inured to the vocals which are the most immediate difference from death metal contemporaries, it is really the technical wizardry of the instruments and song structures that stand out. The instrumental prowess of Mikko Virnes' drumming is the backbone or the spine or NESPITHE of the entire musical flow. His bizarre rhythms and jazz-tinged lightning fast drum rolls provide the perfect canvass for the guitar riffs and bass lines to build some highly technical death metal that can sound alienating upon first listen but i have found it to be addicting. The song structures provide plenty of surprises and unpredictability while staying firmly in the death metal camp complete with heavy riffing, blastbeats, Morbid Angel type soloing and, of course, macabre and deranged subject matter!

NESPITHE is simply a wild and aggressive romp through the darkest and most forboding sonicscapes one can think of. DEMILICH successfully takes you into another world on NESPITHE that matches the intensity of the hellacious album cover (no matter which one you may encounter). The alienating vocals mixed with the aggressive dissonant and inapposite instrumentation is a successful recipe that rewards the progressive rock aficionado while satisfying the most extreme head banger in the metal music universe. This is a rare combination for the individuals who love complexity and have a craving for challenging music that requires repeated listens to decipher. NESPITHE is one of those rare technically constructed extreme metal albums that ranks high on my list of classic masterpieces that employs progressive techniques, high speed aggression and atmospheric escapism. I personally have never had a problem with the gurgled vocals. One of the things that puzzles me is how complacent the metal community can be as a whole, preferring to worship consistency and musical complacency rather than rewarding true artistic deviations from the norm. Perhaps this was too much too fast for some but for me NESPITHE sits high on my list as one of the most innovative extreme metal albums of the ages. As with the previous demos you can find NESPITHE on the digitally remastered compilation "20th Adversary Of Emptiness" which includes every single thing the band ever recorded.

 The Echo by DEMILICH album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1992
2.95 | 2 ratings

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The Echo
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars THE ECHO is the fourth and final demo EP by Finnish tech death metal band DEMILICH before the release of their one and only full album release "Nespithe." No more evolutionary processes needed. DEMILICH basically reached their tech death prowess on the "...Somewhere Inside The Bowels Of Endlessness..." demo EP and only continue it on THE ECHO. Like on "Bowels..." these tracks are the other half of "Nespithe" minus "When The Sun Drank The Weight Of The Water." In other words, that track plus the two EPs that precede "Nespithe" equal "Nespithe" but due to the fact that all four demos were released on cassette in extremely limited quantities it ensures that the market will never be flooded therefore "Nespithe" remains the most practical way to obtain all of these tracks in a much better rendition. There is nothing noticeably different between this demo and "...Somewhere..." It is simply a continuation of the very few tech death metal tracks that DEMILICH created in its way too short career. OK guys, this demo stuff is getting old, release a real album already! As with the previous demos you can find this on the digitally remastered compilation "20th Adversary Of Emptiness" which includes every single thing the band ever recorded. This cassette contained no artwork and was released only as a naked cassette. Now that's death metal!!! 3.5 rounded down
 ...Somewhere Inside The Bowels Of Endlessness... by DEMILICH album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1992
3.00 | 3 ratings

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...Somewhere Inside The Bowels Of Endlessness...
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars A huge development in production graces the third demo EP by DEMILICH. Continuing their musical journey into the horrific and macabre on ...SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE BOWELS OF ENDLESSNESS.... the band continue to evolve their sound a few notches. While Antti Boman's trademark gurgled vocals on the vocal fry register have become familiar territory by now, the rest of the band has really taken off and the compositional approach has progressed way past the simple Bolt Thrower influenced death metal of the first demo. Mikko Virnes' drumming skills containing complex patterns and occasional blastbeats are the most noticeable on the evolutionary tree between demos and at this point has become the rhythmic leader upon which the guitars, bass and chord progressions have constructed themselves around.

It must also be mentioned that Aki Hytönen's bass and additional guitar duties have also developed a distinct sound apart from the other instruments. There are also guitar solos of the Morbid Angel type spastically weaving their way into the scheme of things. The band has in effect reached the point of proficiency as heard on "Nespithe" and in fact all five tracks are early recordings of tracks that appear on "Nespithe." But hold on! ...there's still one more demo EP before we get to that classic. 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. This cassette contained no artwork and was released only as a naked cassette. Now that's death metal!!! 3.5 rounded down

 The Four Instructive Tales... Of Decomposition by DEMILICH album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1991
3.00 | 3 ratings

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The Four Instructive Tales... Of Decomposition
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars THE FOUR INSTRUCTIVE TALES... OF DECOMPOSITION was the second demo EP released by tech death metal band DEMILICH in 1991 and pretty much continues from the first EP "Regurgitation Of Blood." While Antti Boman's trademark hellish gurgled vocals in the vocal fry range are prevalent, the musicianship is still not up to par as to what the band would conjure up on "Nespithe" however it has taken a few steps in that direction. Firstly Mikko Virnes' drumming patterns have become more complex and are beginning to lead the way in the unique angular rhythms the band has become famous for. The titles are becoming more outlandish and despite being clearly Carcass inspired have taken the whole gorefest approach to a new level by adding alien twists and turns to the whole thing. Just check out "And The Slimy Flying Creatures Reproduce In Your Brains!" The guitars and bass, however, are still basic old school death metal with Bolt Thrower being the band that sounds most similar to my ears. The music continues to conjure up shock and awe with an immense appetite for the most macabre, hideous and funereal subject matter the human mind can conceive. I love it! 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. 3.5 rounded down
 Regurgitation Of Blood by DEMILICH album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1991
2.95 | 2 ratings

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Regurgitation Of Blood
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars 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.
 Nespithe by DEMILICH album cover Studio Album, 1993
4.45 | 54 ratings

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Nespithe
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by CassandraLeo

5 stars Gorguts' Obscura is frequently called "the Trout Mask Replica of death metal". Nespithe might be considered the Ascension or Free Jazz. It's not just that the band's squalling guitars and inhumanly low vocals are atypical of the genre; they also have little apparent predecessor and no one since has managed to duplicate them (which may be one reason Demilich have yet to make another full-length album, though they reformed last year and have not ruled out the possibility of new material). This music genuinely sounds like it was composed and performed by aliens.

The inclusion of Demilich on a progressive site may seem weird at first, but there's undeniably a logic to it: the sheer experimentation of this music represents a progression of the genre of death metal that has seldom been equalled elsewhere, and the compositional complexity of the music does have roots in prog even if they're not immediately apparent. It's not just the unusual uses of scales, rhythms, and harmonies (although those are highly unusual); even the compositional structure of this music is sometimes unusual.

This album may take several listens to absorb (although, after enough listening, several of the songs do become "catchy" in their own way). But the material here is well worth absorbing, and offers rewards that are equalled by few other death metal recordings. This is one of those "unique" albums that really is unique.

Interested listeners are strongly urged to consider the 2CD/3LP compilation 20th Adversary of Emptiness, which contains the band's entire discography, including three previously unrecorded songs. Nespithe has been remastered from the original tapes for the first time, and has never sounded better. (It should be mentioned that, unlike a lot of modern remasters of old classics, the material on this compilation is not ruined with "loudness war" shenanigans; the music remains every bit as dynamic as it has ever been on the new remaster, with plenty of space to breathe). The bonus material is also well worth checking out; the demos (with the exception of the final track) have comparable recording quality to the album and do a good job helping listeners understand how the band developed its signature sound (and also contain a few tracks that were not re-recorded for the album), while the new material is up to the standard of the songs on the album. Hopefully this is not the last material we'll hear from this enigmatic band.

 Nespithe by DEMILICH album cover Studio Album, 1993
4.45 | 54 ratings

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Nespithe
Demilich Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Conor Fynes
Prog Reviewer

5 stars 'Nespithe' - Demilich (10/10)

In a genre defined by its unfettered commitment to extremity, it's rare for a death metal album to retain its stopping power in the generations following its release. Sure, Scream Bloody Gore and Altars of Madness still earn respect and admiration from contemporary ears (and rightfully so), but they've since been trumped in terms of their heaviness and commitment to perversity. A large part of what has made Demilich such an enduring gem is their lack of successor; no artist since has made death metal that sounds quite like them. Even with the twentieth anniversary of its release having occurred earlier this year, Nespithe remains as twisted, puzzling, and frightening as ever. Newcomers may find themselves put off by the unconventional guitarwork and (ahem) distinctive vocals, but there are few metal albums I've heard that leave such a lasting impression. Nespithe is death metal for the thinking man, and my only disappointment with the album is that Demilich never chose to make another one.

While most certainly mired within the confines of what we would label as death metal, Demilich took the familiar ingredients of the genre and forged something unmistakably unique with them. Death metal's trademark aggression is filtered through a labyrinthine network of time signatures and the sort of dissonant harmonies you may expect to mind in modernist classical music. The rhythms ebb and flow with fluidity like a river current, much unlike the straightforward rampage you would expect to hear from a death metal album over twenty years old. Throughout the album, Demilich pays a consistent attention to detail in the shape of the riffs and flow of the composition. Whereas it would be expected even from a left-field band like this one to loosen the reins for a while and offer a taste of simplicity, Demilich doesn't compromise their sophistication for a second. Even the slower parts of the song structures are complex and rich with detail.

On paper, the guitarwork on Nespithe might be sound like a description of jazz music before anything else, although you wouldn't think it for a second while listening to music itself. Contrary to most metal, the chords seem to follow the lead guitar, as opposed to the other way around. While there's certainly a proper method at work with these riffs, they sound liberated from conventional scales, pairing notes that wouldn't normally go together. The guitars weave riffs that jitter and twitch like thoughts inside the mind of a madman. Demilich's compositions are elevated greatly by a focus on harmony otherwise alien to most death metal. Tapping into the same pool of insight as neoclassical composers Krzysztof Penderecki and Gyorgy Ligeti, the guitar harmonies are unsettling, as if the two melodic lines are pulling in the opposite directions. Harmony is an exercise in music most often used to make a composition more beautiful or 'pretty', but the opposite rings true for Demilich's use of it on Nespithe.

Although the lasting quality of Demilich's work is large part in thanks to their inventive guitar work, nothing has contributed so much to the album's reputation as have the now-infamous vocals of Antti Boman. The album booklet itself proudly proclaims that no effects were used to tweak the vocals, which might only be described as 'cavernous'. It is typical in death metal for the vocalist to rely on aggression and volume to get his point across; Boman goes for something different entirely. Listeners have described his delivery as anything from a low guttural to a controlled burp, and they wouldn't be wrong either; the man's vocals are almost indiscernibly low-pitched, and quiet enough to slip right by an inattentive listener. I don't know if I've heard of another extreme metal vocalist (sparing Silencer's Nattramn) sparking such division in listeners; Boman demonstrates you don't necessarily need volume to have presence. Although an acquired taste, the belching gutturals are eerie like nothing else. Where other death metal vocalists retain a shred of their humanity, the vocals here don't sound like they're being uttered by a human being. It's no doubt clichéd to say in a metal review, but the gurgling sounds downright Lovecraftian in scope and atmosphere. The vocals are not intended to be the focus of the listener; instead, it adds a thundering resonance beneath the miasmatic riffs, quiet enough so that they never get in the way of the album's strongest suit. Lacking entirely in dynamic, Boman's delivery may be something of a one-trick gimmick, but considering that there's still nothing else quite like it twenty years after the album's release, the vocals still stand as a boon to the album's standing and immortality. It's a shame that some listeners can't look past Demilich's vocal choices, because even if Boman's vocals lack the range of a more conventional masterpiece, they still come secondary to the otherworldly riffs that consume Nespithe.

Demilich enjoy a production style perfectly-fitted for their work. It sounds organic, pleasantly murky, and just crisp enough to showcase the technical finesse of the riffs themselves. The drum production could have done with a little greater dynamic range, but there's nothing significant to complain about the way Nespithe has been crafted. In particular, the guitar tone never ceases to impress me; it sounds diseased and dark, as if the amplifiers are bellowing from some hellish underworld. When you imagine how difficult it must have been to properly mix vocals as low and subdued as Boman's into the mix, it's pretty impressive to hear them coming out so evenly with the rest of the music. Although the sheer alien illegibility of his vocals make the lyrics' effect on the music negligible at best, Demilich have penned some pretty schizophrenic poetry to match the album's monstrous atmosphere, and are well-worth checking out. It's an album marvellously consistent in tone and style, and though Demilich do not stray any bit from their style, there are plenty of riffs that stand out as being memorable, provided the listener is diligent enough to seek them.

It only took one full-length for Demilich to innovate and, in turn, perfect their brand of alien death metal. In a way, it almost bodes well for the band's cult of legacy that they never graced listeners with a second album. It's forced listeners to get the most out of this one album, and left Nespithe a truly 'one-of-a-kind' experience. The belching bean-burrito burp vocals will turn some listeners off immediate, but to the uneasily swayed, there is richness and sophistication to enjoy here beyond almost anything else the genre has offered.

Thanks to Rune2000 for the artist addition.

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