UMUR
"Tangled In Gore" is the first demo recording by Dutch death metal act Gorefest. The demo was independently released in December 1989. It´s the first out of two demos Gorefest recorded and released before they were signed by the Foundation 2000 label for the release of their 1991 debut full-length studio album "Mindloss". All four tracks from the "Tangled In Gore" would eventually be re-recorded and included on "Mindloss".
Stylistically this is thrash infused old school death metal and the material very much reminds me of early Pestilence. Lead vocalist/bassist Jan-Chris de Koeijer even occasionally sounds a little like a more human version of Martin van Drunen. So although the two bands often fought bitter battles in the press in the years to come, they actually sounded a lot alike on their early releases, so there´s no arguing that Gorefest were strongly influenced by Pestilence at this point in their career (Pestilence already having released a few demos and albums by December 1989 the influence must have gone that way).
"Tangled In Gore" features what I´d describe as a professional demo production, which means it was recorded at a recording studio (at Totem Studios in Bleiswijk, Netherlands) and not just on a 4-track tape recorder at the band´s rehearsal space. The result is a powerful, raw, and brutal sounding production, which suits the music perfectly. Considering that this was released in late 1989 this is a good quality death metal demo, and it´s no wonder that Gorefest made a name for themselves on the European death metal scene already this early on. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.