Conor Fynes 'Nespithe' - Demilich (8/10)

The only album released by death metal warlords Demilich is one that is best appreciated in its context. The early 90's were the period in which death metal- not to mention extreme metal in general- reached its artistic peak across the board. Mayhem graced black metal with the genre's resounding classic 'De Mysteriis Dom Santhanas,' and the envelope of death metal was being pushed towards techy, progressive territory at the hands of Death and Atheist. Little known among these pioneers is Demilich. Although they only released ever released this one album, 'Nespithe' could be said to be ahead of its time. With a firm grasp of the newly formed technical excellence that death metal was beginning to demand, Demilich fused that with a much darker sense of atmosphere, as well as a particularly jarring style of vocals that would go on to foreshadow an entire sub-genre of death metal. 'Nespithe' may not have the dynamic approach that would have made it a masterpiece in my books, but there's no denying this album's place as a classic.

The style called 'brutal death metal' may sound a little kitsch to outsiders of metal, but it indeed refers to a very specific trend of death metal, defined largely by its 'crushing' sound, and very low, gurgled vocals. On that latter note, vocalist Antti Boman can be said to have pioneered the incredibly low gutturals, whereas much death metal of this period was more of a scream. Although the instrumentation is incredibly unique on it's own, it is Boman's vocals that will plant Demilich on the map of death metal for eternity. Even after death metal has been popularized and populated by thousands of bands, I have not yet heard a vocalist that is able to reproduce a vocal gurgle like his, without the gratuitous use of effects. Granted, Boman's very demonic style of growling will not be for everyone, but it, among other things, helps to set 'Nespithe' apart.

The music of Demilich is heavy and incredibly dark, and it stays that way throughout the entire album. The guitars here have a unique style of riffing; although the thought won't pass a listener upon their first experience with it, the quasi-melodies and licks that Demilich build their sound with would not be out of place in jazz music. Demilich are not a 'jazz metal' band in the vein of Atheist however; far from. The music here features no softer moments where they exercise their finer elements. 'Nespithe' is an unrelenting plunge into hellish depths. As was noted by a friend of mine, the closest modern day equivalent to this band would be Portal, in the sense that they are able to take the ingredients of death metal, but do something with it that makes them unique and atmospheric. The music on 'Nespithe' conjures a diabolical sense of impending doom. Even though the lyrics are virtually obscured by Boman's vocal intensity, it's quite simple to evaluate the subject matter, if only based on the stark sense of 'evil atmosphere' that 'Nespithe' creates. Death metal has not always been a style of music I find myself moved by; particularly the technical brand of it. All the same, Demilich's sound is truly one of a kind, and listeners with an ear open enough to extremity should do well to listen to it. It sounds just as extreme today as it would have twenty years ago.

UMUR "Nespithe" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Demilich. The album was released in February 1993 by Necropolis Records. The album has long been out of print but Demilich have made the album available for free in digital form on their official website along with all their demos.

The music on "Nespithe" is technical, twisted and quite odd sounding death metal. The odd part of the description is mostly due to the very distinct sounding vocal delivery. Instead of having "regular" growling vocals in the music Demilich deliver a kinda juicy and burping vocal style. The vocals are similar to some of the juicy growling vocals on the first two Carcass albums. The difference is that the burping vocals on "Nespithe" are not complimentet by a higher pitched aggressive sneer. To be honest I couldn´t stop laughing the first couple of times I listened to "Nespithe". The vocals simply sounded so silly and I couldn´t take them serious at all. I still see them as a kinda humourous element in the music but I´ve grown to somewhat appreciate the innovative idea behind the choice of vocal style and oddly enough also the vocal style itself. I guess you can get used to a lot of things by trying hard enough or maybe some things simply take a long time to understand and appreciate. Well...consider yourself warned. This might be THE primary example of aquired taste.

...the reason why I´ve returned to "Nespithe" so many times despite my initial response to the vocals, is because the instrumental part of the music is intriguing to say the least. I like the fact that the music is technical in an old school death metal fashion. There´s a twisted and original take on how to play death metal on "Nespithe" that´s admirable IMO. Demilich clearly don´t follow any particular style or influence and as a consequence they sound very much like themselves. Their extremely long and oddly titled songtitles further adds to the innovative nature of the music. How about: "The Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son of Fourteen Four-Regional Dimensions (Still Unnamed)" or "The Planet That Once Used to Absorb Flesh in Order to Achieve Divinity and Immortality (Suffocated to the Flesh That It Desired...)". Now that´s what I call songtitles!

The sound production is organic and gritty but still clear enough for the listener to hear all instruments in the mix. The sound suits the music perfectly.

"Nespithe" is probably one of the most original death metal albums out there. Demilich sadly folded before releasing a successor because I´m sure they would have kept releasing some really innovative music had they continued. "Nespithe" is a testament they can be proud of though and I think even those who can´t stand the odd burping vocals will have to admit that "Nespithe" is a very original release. We need more boundary crushers in this world IMO and even though experiments like these are often an aquired taste, it´s albums like this one that also makes people discuss and talk about music. All those faceless followers will be forgotten tomorrow but an album like "Nespithe" is an underground classic, that is still hailed and praised even almost 20 years after it was released. "Nespithe" is a truly innovative release fully deserving a 4 star rating.

Time Signature The cry...

Genre: tech / prog death metal

Ay ay ay ay! This is a tragedy! Writing this review breaks the heart.

Musically, this album is actually very good, as it contains a series of well-crafted technical death metal tracks which, while technical and progressive, never are too much. There is a lot of nice both aggressive and arty riffage on this album and numerous challenging twists and turns - just the way that technical death metal ought to be.

The whole conceptual imagery of the album is also kind of arty in a bizarre and morbid way which I totally appreciate, that is what death metal is all about anyway. I mean, I like the very long and bizarre song titles - I mean, how can you go wrong with "The Planet That Once Used to Absorb Flesh in Order to Achieve Divinity and Immortality (Suffocated to the Flesh That It Desired...)" or "The Putrefying Road in the Nineteenth Extremity (...Somewhere Inside the Bowels of Endlessness...)" or "The Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son of Fourteen Four-Regional Dimensions (Still Unnamed)"? I mean, that's class.

So what's the tragic part?

The tragic part is the vocals. The vocals on this album are probably the most annoying vocals I've ever heard - and we're talking a level of annoyance that is otherwise associated with the likes of The Cheeky Girls and other deformities unleashed upon mankind via shows like Idol or The X-Factor. It's not because the vocals are growled - I do not have a problem with growling... if it's done right. But the vocals on this release are so guttural that I guess "burping" is a better label than "growling". In addition to being burping, the vocals are also extremely monotonous and devoid of any sort of aggressive emotion, and they do not fit the otherwise excellent and varied music on this album enough. Moreover, they are too loud in the mix and drowned in echo and reverb. It annoys me so much that I cannot listen to this release in one go from beginning to end; I simply need breaks from the vocals.

Gagh! I really hate it when this happens, but this is a case of the vocals ruining the listening experience, and that's a shame because the music is brilliant. It's five star music and zero star vocals which gives an undeserved 2.5 star rating.

I'd recommend this to fans of technical death metal who are less sensitive to burpy vocals than I am. Maybe such people can appreciate this album for the death metal masterpiece that it is.