Copyright © 1992 Seraphic Decay
1. --Demigod--
1. Perpetual Ascent (Intro)(3:13)
2. Anxiety (4:31)
3. Reincanation (4:18)
4. Succumb to Dark (3:57)
6. --Necropsy--
5. Intro (1:53)
6. Blasphemous Degradation (3:31)
7. White Perfect Fume (3:16)
8. From the Depths (5:05)
9. Under the Masses (4:18)
10. The Morass (4:26)
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Demigod’s side begins with their classic and unmistakably evil intro, "Perpetual Ascent"- an atmospheric keyboard, guitar, and drum instrumental announcing the presence of the otherworldly evil that the band wishes to unleash upon its listeners. A remarkably sinister three-note descending melody played on the keyboard, in alternating keys, before being joined by ethereal arpeggios from the guitars, which quickly solidify into the imposing thunder for which this band is known. The song becomes a rhythmic dirge with the tiniest hints of melody, with three or four dissonant chords used simply to establish a violent motion in melody, before the beast descends into the abyss which from which it rose, dragging humanity with it into the pit. Mission stated, the band wastes no time launching into the demo proper, with blazingly fast riffs contrasted with a fearsome churning dirge, the latter being where the album is truly brutal, crushing the listener beneath the weight of the realization of impending mortality, as opposed to the nearly incomprehensible chaos of the former. Construction is a bit riff-salad, but manages to hold together due to the band’s ability to transition from idea to idea so smoothly, aided by the drums which both suddenly change the tempo of the music for a transition over a static riff, or hold the rhythm across a riff change in order to maintain continuity. Vocals are barely audible and basically superfluous over these testimonies demonstrating how a fearful chaos is to be feared less than chaos’s death.
Necropsy’s material is less recommendable. Starting with a fecal noise intro, their side then bursts into something of a parody of demo-era Morbid Angel. Blazing fast parts, slow parts, "technical parts", and atonal solos are thoughtlessly thrown together in surprisingly non-threatening material that bounces along with tons of energy, as if making pop death metal. Their instrumentation is better than that of Demigod- but, who cares? It’s still baseball-cap death metal, and utterly vapid.
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