It seems I've spent the past month and some days reviewing just new stuff, therefore I think its about time I turn the clock back to thee most ancient of times and start reviewing some older stuff, again!A very common bootleg, this one, it pairs up two ultra cult demos from 1987 from Incubus and Necrovore (sometimes with Morbid Angel's, 'Thy Kingdom Come' demo too).
The first three songs come from Incubus' one and only 1987 demo, 'God Died on His Knees.' This Incubus (not to be confused with a few others) had its origins in Georgia, but sometime in '86, Sterling Von Scarborough moved to Florida to join Morbid Angel as their bassist when shortly thereafter things finally took off for Incubus. Musically this is absolutely primal filthy death metal in the frantic blasphemic direction of early Possessed, Morbid Angel and Death. Mike Browning's drumming is a barrage of pummeling chaos, Steve "Skully" Shoemaker's rabid guitar work is highly similar to that of Trey Azagthoth's, so much so that it gives the impression that he was the one who had previously played with them, while Sterling's bass is actually audible underneath the harsh production. Sterling's vocal work is also notable since he was surely one of the first true growlers out there and his mix between low guttural roars and agonized screams is just fucking killer!
Necrovore on the other hand was from New Braunfels, Texas, but similarly they only released one demo in '87 titled, 'Divus De Mortuus.' Although somewhat similar in sound Necrovore was considerably more extreme and frenzied than Incubus, and, well pretty much everything else out there at the time. Although comparable to Morbid Angel, Possessed, Sepultura, Sarcofago and even Von, Necrovore was absolutely ahead of their time. Were talking about utter Satanic chaos committed to tape here and I'm quite sure nothing was even close to this in '87. The sound is very lo-fi with the guitars and drums usually being buried under a layer of distortion and Jon DePlachett's malevolent screams. Jon sounds absolutely sinister throughout this entire demo as he screams and growls fourth the minions of Hell and frankly I'm not sure if anyone has ever sounded as demented since.
'Mutilated Death' opens with an eerie keyboard passage and spoken part, which then leads into a berserking Possessed like riff and insane scream that's followed up death metal disarray like you've never heard before. 'Slaughtered Remains' is the most known track on the demo because it appeared on a compilation called, 'Satan's Revenge Part 2,' while, 'Divus De Mortuus' and 'Toxic Decay' are similar it just is amazing how extreme this stuff truly is. Sure, its simple, and there's lots of typical 80's thrash characteristics present too, but by fucking Satan is it ever maniacal. The comp. version of, ''Slaughtered Remains' and a live version of the title track are also included though they are not quite as infectious as the four demo tracks.
Unfortunately neither of these bands made it past one demo as Incubus broke-up shortly after, 'God Died on His Knees,' although Mike Browning went onto the most awesome band, Nocturnus, while Sterling reformed Incubus in '92 under the name Usurper, but it never went anywhere and years later Sterling took his own life. Likewise Necrovore quit sometime after this demo, although its been said that the band is back together again today and they plan to finally do a real album, which would definitely be interesting to hear.
As you know from some of my other reviews of early pioneering extreme music that I've got a thing for this youthful aggression and frankly these two bands are among some of the most elite in the 80's. It's not for everyone but for those that are into fiery spearheaded music straight from the abyss then these two demos are for you! Who cares if the production is shit or if perhaps the musicians were not even that good?! Fuck it, I don't care, I goddamn love this kind of shit, mother fucker! RAAAARRRRRAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
totally true!
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