UMUR
"Toxic Existence" is the first demo by Swedish death metal act Afflicted Convulsion. The demo was independently released on cassette tape in February 1989. Afflicted Convulsion formed in 1988 from the ashes of thrash metal act Reptile. The band name was changed to Defiance before it was again changed to the current one. Afflicted Convulsion changed their name in 1990 removing the Convulsion part of their band name, and were from then on using the Afflicted monicker.
The 5 tracks on th 20:01 minutes long demo are arguably the sound of a very young band experimenting with a lot of different elements and styles. There are both thrash metal, traditional heavy metal, and some death metal riffs here, and the lead vocalist also toys with different singing styles, including some very weird and out of place screams. Almost cartoonish in nature and not very well sounding within the context of the music.
There are actually quite a few interesting songwriting ideas on the demo, but the many different ideas put together don´t make for a consistent and coherent listening experience. Instead the listener is treated to some amaturish performances (well some of the guitar riffs are actually pretty well played) and songs that don´t really work that well. The relatively clear sounding production (for a demo) is actually not an advantage for Afflicted Convulsion, as a more raw and muddy sound would probably have disguised some of their less than impressive playing skills. A 1.5 star (30%) rating isn´t all wrong.