Demonic Sacrifice – Enter The Realm Of Pure Darkness

During the 90s, lots of death metal bands came out of the woodworks and tried to leave their mark on the world. Some bands, such as Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, and several others, succeeded in this endeavor. Many others failed. Many of those bands made horrible music so they deserved to fail, but I have a special interest for the bands that made great music but never managed to get anywhere, because listening to their work makes you think about what could have been. Case in point, Demonic Sacrifice, and their only full-length album, Enter The Real Of Pure Darkness.

First off, the drums are just plain excellent. The double bass is utterly relentless, the blast beats hit harder than a spiked maul to the face, and their performance is sprinkled with lots of complex fills and other displays of technical wankery. Just listen to the songs “Enthralled To Realm” and “Agony Of Frayed Souls” and you'll get a good idea as to just how skilled this guy is on the kit. Another thing I like about this album is just how prominent the bass is. The bass is prominent on a lot of great old school death metal albums, but here, they're even more pronounced. They follow the guitars and create a thick atmosphere full of rotting flesh and dragon fire.

The guitars are positively superb. The music is replete with thick and chunky mid-paced groove riffs. Proto-slams, if you will. Hell, they even pull off some pinch harmonics on occasion. They also like to pick up the pace and play some dark yet pretty catchy tremolo riffs as well. Top that off with some absurdly awesome solos that totally tear up the fretboard like the one on “Injection” and you'll have yourself a performance that's almost impossible to forget. The only part I didn't like were the vocals. They did their job well, what with their hoarse growls and whatnot, but personally, they didn't feel powerful enough for me. They didn't quite fit with the rest of the music. I wish his performance was deeper and more guttural. Then this album would be perfect.

This album is one reason why I spend so much time listening to obscure music. I swim through an ocean of shit just so I can find a single nugget of gold. This album is a fine nugget of gold, if I do say so myself. If you love old school death metal that features complex drum work, thick bass, and amazing guitars, then this album is for you.