Damnation - Demo(n)s

DAMNATION - Demo(n)s (WITCHING HOUR Productions LP 2015)

Back in 2015 Witching Hour Productions brought us the reissues of all early Damnation recordings and I have to say that it was a great idea to exhume these demos and albums. I especially loved the idea to see them all on vinyl, since I already had the original CDs. I treated myself with all four vinyl releases and here I want to write few words about "Demo(n)s". This is a compilation of two Damnation demos: "Everlasting Sickness" and "Forbidden Spaces", so the very beginnings of this band.

Starting with "Everlasting Sickness" from 1993... You could hear that it differs quite much from what Damnation is mostly known for - which is chaotic, fast and very dark, evil sounding death metal. This demo is more archaic and rougher, much less technical and advanced in all these aspects, even when compared to Damnation's second demo. And it's not something what I would particularly like, to be honest, these songs do not impress with anything spectacular... Sure, it is a solid and worthy demo, especially when compared to other Polish death metal demos from that time… But to me this demo has no chance with the future Damnation.

On the other hand, "Forbidden Spaces" blows the whole "Everlasting Sickness" in seconds, they made a huge step forward with this second demo. This is what Damnation is known for - fast, vicious, savage and utterly aggressive, quite technical, but straight forward death metal with a chaotic feel, due to quite unusual song structures, arrangements, even the way riffs were composed. But this is powerful stuff and really fuckin possessed and evil. In "The Ruling Truth" the music is slower, almost kind of atmospheric, yet still vicious as hell, but most of this material is just a beast. Varien's drumming is fantastic, I also like Les' vocals a lot. Generally, you have to admit that Damnation had their own, unique and recognizable style of death metal – and it really started here, with “Forbidden Spaces” demo. Give a listen to such songs as "Pagan Prayer" and admit that! But the whole demo is mighty and crushing, so I'm very glad to have it on faakkkinnn vinyl! It definitely belongs to the best Polish death metal demos of all time.

Vinyl presentation isn’t the most impressive or interesting, especially the black front is simply dull… but at least we could find some lyrics and old photographs inside the gatefold.

Standout tracks: "Pagan Prayer", "The Ruling Truth"

Verdict: 75/100