UMUR
"Demo 1" is the first demo release by Swedish death/black metal act Dawn. The demo was independently released in March 1992. The two tracks from the demo are also featured on "The Eternal Forest - Demo Years 91-93" compilation album. Dawn was formed in 1990 and originally played death metal, but later shifted towards a more melodic oriented black metal style.
The music style on the two tracks on this demo is old school Swedish death metal. It´s in the more brutal and at times rather fast paced end of the old school Swedish death metal territory, but it´s still firmly rooted in that genre. "Dawn of Torture" is a very short track (1:36 minutes long) and is almost over before it´s begun, so it´s mostly on "Thirst of the Dead", where you get an idea of Dawn´s style.
The sound production is murky and pretty lo-fi, but it´s also rather charming and suits the brutal music well. With a full playing time of 6:25 minutes "Demo 1" doesn´t last long enough to give the listener a solid impression of what Dawn has to offer, and it´s not surprising that the band had to record two further demos before being signed to a label. If you view it as an isolated release, it´s still a pretty enjoyable recording though, and I´d say a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.