UMUR
"The Four Seasons" is the fourth demo recording by Finnish thrash metal act Sceptical Schizo. The demo was independently released in February 1991. It´s the successor to the August 1990 "Danse Macabre" demo. Sceptical Schizo formed in 1988 under the Epidemic monicker but changed their name to Sceptical Schizo later the same year. They operated under the Sceptical Schizo band name until 1993 when they changed their name to Lavra. They didn´t manage to release a full-length studio album during the 1988-1993 period, but they were still relatively active releasing no less than four demos and two EPs.
"The Four Seasons" is a pun on Antonio Lucio Vivaldi´s four violin concertos known as "The Four Seasons". The four tracks (partially titled "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn", and "Winter") on this demo have however absolutely nothing to do with Vivaldi´s famous works. This is brutal thrash metal/bordering death metal and in line with the more creative songwriting style on the "Danse Macabre" demo, "The Four Seasons" features an increase in experimental songwriting ideas. So, "The Four Seasons" is not quite as abrasive and primitive as the band´s first two demos, and Sceptical Schizo show a lot of growth in the songwriting department on this demo.
The musicianship is also stronger and the band have obviously honed their playing skills a lot since the first 1989 demo. The vocals are still grunted, raw, and aggressive thrash metal vocals delivered in staccato punchy style. They sometimes border death metal growling, but I´d say it´s more of an influence rather than the vocals being pure death metal growling. The sound production is decent, but not great. Just like the case was on all preceding demo releases "The Four Seasons" doesn´t feature a powerful demo quality production job. It sounds a bit amaturish. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.
