Archives of the Dead part XXXI - BODYBAG - Mutilated Beyond Recognition (Demo 1992)

Archives of the Dead part XXXI - BODYBAG - Mutilated Beyond Recognition (Demo 1992) 

Line up: Jimmy "The Typhoon" Littlefield (drums), Travis Dahmen (guitars), C.J. Mikiten (bass), Eric Flath (guitars), Mike Dexter (vocals)  

Recorded and mixed March 28 & 29, 1992 at Dogfish Sound, Newberg, Oregon.

Produced by Bodybag.

A couple of years ago I had a pleasure to write few words on the then newly discovered early 90's US death metal band from Oregon, called BodyBag. This demo was titled "Severed Existence", released in 1993, and was something I really enjoyed to listen to. So, I hoped to find also some other recordings from this band (in digital format of corpse, because original cassettes are impossible to find!).. and finally I also have found BodyBag's debut demo, which is 1992's "Mutilated Beyond Recognition" and I think that I like this shit even more! Damn, what a crushing, brutal piece of old styled death metal it is. Really killer! 

Six songs are here, with 25 minutes of music... and I can guarantee that if you're fan of the traditional US death metal and bands such as Massacre, Monstrosity, Baphomet, Morta Skuld, Obituary, then this shit is for you! Really fuckin well played music, with pretty solid production, especially for a debut demo of an unknown band! It sounds more professional than some full-length albums, in my opinion! Song writing is very good here, in my opinion better than on "Severed Existence" demo, because these songs have so many great riffs, but also good ideas, arrangements, vocals or diversity are all top notch. There's fast paced, as well as slow stuff, but everything's brutal and nasty just as it should. Even some Death's "Leprosy" traces could be found here and there, especially in "No Return", what means that the music is a bit technical, but first and foremost, it's about to crush your fuckin head with massive, vicious riffage.  

Really awesome stuff, I like every song from it and I am super amazed how well it all sounds. Even the fact that some songs are over six minutes long is not disturbing, because BodyBag knew how to use this time properly and create interesting songs. Sooo... what else could I add?! Absolutely killer demo and it's just a shame that such a good band is so little known. They were supposed to release a demo compilation CD few years ago, but it's still not out. I really hope though that it will be released one day, because this music needs more attention and recommendation, for me it's a forgotten death metal jewel. 

Verdict: 85/100