Archives of the Dead part XXXII - Epitaph - Demo 1991

Archives of the Dead part XXXII - Epitaph - Demo 1991 

Line up: Mark Good (bass), Kevin Astl (drums), Tony Teegarden (guitars, vocals), Scott Senokossoff (guitars) 

Recorded at Morrisound Studios, 1991. Produced by Tom Morris and Epitaph. 

Wanna read about another crushing US death metal demo from the early 90's and band, which only very few people remember (I think)? Here's it is. The band is called Epitaph, which is a very unfortunate name, considering how many other Epitaphs there were. These guys were from Florida and if you look at their line up, you can spot names, which can also be found in Cynic (Tony Teegarden) and Resurrection (Mark Good and Kevin Astl had an episode there).  

So, a classic Floridian death metal? This is exactly what Epitaph was. And more so, they were just fantastic. This demo from 1991 sounds killer. Epitaph recorded it at the infamous Morrisound, so the sound quality is great, it sounds professional, super tight and brutal. And stylistically it sounds like a combination of Death and Obituary, to describe it as simply as possible. They had the melody and bit of twisted riffage from "Spiritual Healing" combined with the heaviness and brutality of "Cause of Death". Very well played, technically this demo sounds nothing like a beginning band. I especially like the bass work, which does not allow you to forget about its existence for the entire demo and plays many great parts. The drummer also plays tight and precise. There's a bit of thrashing feel here and there, which can remind you also bands such as Demolition Hammer or Solstice, so generally this is a super, super fuckin awesome stuff. I could not believe that it's so little known, when I played it for the first time it blew my head off right away. Three songs, 13 minutes of music, but what a joy to listen to it. I'm glad that I've found this demo. 

Oh, John Tardy did some guest vocals in one of these songs. 

Verdict: 80/100