"Demo '90" is the first demo recording by Finnish death metal act Interment. The demo was independently released in December 1990. Interment formed in 1989 in the town of Paimio and is one of the lesser known acts from the Finnish Turku area death metal scene, which was dominated by Xysma, Funebre, and Disgrace (or at least in retrospect those were the artists who were most successful). Interment only released this three-track demo, which was reissued as the "Life Here After" EP in 1991 through the ComeBack label (who were also responsible for releasing most of the early Xysma releases), and then folded (sometime after recording a 1992 rehearsal tape). The three tracks from the demo were included on the 2016 "Life Here After" compilation album along with the previously unreleased 1992 rehearsal tape.

Stylistically the material on the demo is pretty standard 1990/1991 old school death metal. Mid-to fast-paced, brutal growling, a decent quality demo production, and a reasonably well playing band are the ingredients which make up this demo release. Interment weren´t the most unique death metal act on the early Finnish death metal scene, but they deliver a relatively good quality demo here and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

"Steam of Stertorous Cadaver... Demo Tapes 1991-1992" is a compilation album by Finnish death metal act Coprophilia. The compilation was released through Old Skull Productions in October 2021. Coprophilia were a relatively shortlived act who only released two demos (a 1991 demo and a 1992 demo) during their early 90s career (they disbanded in 1993). The material from both demos are compiled on "Steam of Stertorous Cadaver... Demo Tapes 1991-1992". Before forming Coprophilia in the early 90s, some of the members of the band had been active on the Finnish punk/hardcore scene.

While Coprophilia certainly are one of the more obscure Finnish death metal acts from the early 90s, there´s nothing wrong with the quality of their two demos. The material from the first demo from 1991 which opens the compilation is in a dark and morbid style of death metal with goregrind blasting parts. It´s obviously influenced by early Carcass, and the same can be said about the material from the 1992 demo, although the pendulum has swung a bit more towards the goregrind part of the band´s sound on that demo. This is generally just a good combination of blasting goregrind, mid-paced death metal brutality, and slow death/doom metal heaviness.

Coprophilia are the type of act who can get away with playing all old school grind- and death metal styles as they play all of them equally well. In fact they are an incredibly well playing band. The drummer is especially impressive with his hard hitting and energetic drumming style pushing the music forward with great intensity, while the buzzing guitars sound like angry bees underneath and the juicy growling vocals add a disgusting and depraved atmosphere to the material. The occasional morbid guitar lead also add to the gloomy atmosphere, and overall you get a lot of the elements which make up a good quality death metal release on the two Coprophilia demos. "Steam of Stertorous Cadaver... Demo Tapes 1991-1992" is well worth the price of admission and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

"Demo '92" is the second demo recording by Finnish death metal act Coprophilia. The demo was independently released in the summer of 1992. Coprophilia were a relatively shortlived act who only released two demos during their early 90s career (they disbanded in 1993). The material from both demos have been reissued on the 2021 "Steam of Stertorous Cadaver... Demo Tapes 1991-1992" compilation album (Old Skull Productions, October 2021). Before forming Coprophilia in the early 90s, some of the members of the band had been active on the Finnish punk/hardcore scene.

Stylistically this is an even more early Carcass influenced goregrind/death metal release than the first demo, which featured a few more death metal elements and slow death/doom metal parts (which are also stylistic elements on this demo, but the scale has tipped towards the goregrind part of the band´s sound). This is more filthy, noisy, and savage sounding. The sound quality is decent, although rather noisy and chaotic sounding, but to my ears that just provides the music with the right gloomy and vile atmosphere.

Coprophilia are a very well playing band, and it´s something you notice right away when listening to the demo. Everything is delivered with great skill and precision, but still with an organic touch. The drummer is for example absolutely on fire, driving the music forward in a fast-paced brutal fashion, with the distorted guitars almost sounding like a swarm of angry bees underneath, and the sick and depraved gurgling/juicy growling in front. The music also occasionally features morbid guitar leads, which are great for the variation of the songs, but also for the atmosphere of the demo.

Although this second demo is a more raw and unpolished recording compared to the first demo, I think this one is just a notch more interesting. The songwriting is pretty equally great on both demos, but the filthy, raw, and authentic sounding production on this demo just gives it something special. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted.

"Demo '91" is the first demo recording by Finnish death metal act Coprophilia. The demo was independently released in September 1991. Coprophilia were a relatively shortlived act who only released two demos during their early 90s career (they disbanded in 1993). The material from both demos have been reissued on the 2021 "Steam of Stertorous Cadaver... Demo Tapes 1991-1992" compilation album (Old Skull Productions, October 2021). Before forming Coprophilia in the early 90s, some of the members of the band had been active on the Finnish punk/hardcore scene.

Including a short intro, the demo features 5 tracks and a total playing time of 16:05, which provides the listener with enough time and material to evaluate what Coprophilia have to offer. Stylistically the music is a combination of fast-blasting goregrind (greatly influenced by early Carcass), mid-paced death metal heaviness, and morbid sounding death/doom metal. Coprophilia successfully combine the three styles, which is made possible be the fact that they are a very well playing unit. They have a good understanding of how to write an effectful death metal song too, and combined with a relatively well sounding demo production, this is certainly a Finnish death metal demo worth a listen. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

"1989-1991: Watching the Wake" is a compilation album release by Finnish thrash metal act Protected Illusion. The compilation was released through Marquee Records in 2008 and features the material from the following releases: "Opulence and Preservation…Poverty and Desperation…" (January 1989, demo), "Swimming in the Moonlight" (October 1989, EP), "Festering Fairytales" (July 1990, full-length studio album), and "Sandman's Store" (August 1991, EP).

The tracklist is not chronological, but it does not feature a completely reverse chronology either as it opens with the material from "Festering Fairytales" followed by the material from "Sandman's Store", continues with the material from "Swimming in the Moonlight", and concludes with the material from "Opulence and Preservation…Poverty and Desperation…".

Stylistically Protected Illusion play an aggressive, raw, and energy packed type of thrash metal which is in the more brutal end of the scale. It´s not 100% death/thrash by any means, but it´s understandable why many Finnish death metal artists mention Protected Illusion as a great inspiration on their development towards a more brutal sound (along with other Finnish thrash metal artists like Sacred Crucifix, A.R.G., and Phlegethon...etc.). Already on the "Swimming in the Moonlight" EP, Protected Illusion however started toying with more techncial playing and experimental songwriting ideas and that tendendely continued and increased on the material from "Festering Fairytales" and especially on the material from "Sandman's Store". Voivod is definitely an influence on both "Festering Fairytales" and on "Sandman's Store", although Protected Illusion are generally a much more brutal and aggressive sounding act than the Canadians. Sadus is another contemporary act which Protected Illusion have some similarities to.

It would be stretching the truth to claim that Protected Illusion had pristine production values on any of the releases included on this compilation, but the raw unpolished nature of the productions add an authentic charm to the material that you can´t reproduce today. Probably because these releases were recorded with whatever recording equipment Protected Illusion could get their hands on. So this is just how it organically turned out.

"1989-1991: Watching the Wake" is a good quality compilation album featuring 28 tracks, and a total playing time of 72:08 and I dare say not a second of it is filler. All tracks (and all four releases) included here are well worth your time if you´re interested in the more brutal and aggressive thrash metal of the late 80s/early 90s, and in the case of the later releases technical thrash metal with an experimental edge (but still raw and aggressive), this compilation is recommendable listening material. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.