UMUR
"Rehearsal Tape 1991" is the third demo recording by Finnish death metal act Pestigore. The demo was independently released in late 1991. It´s the successor to the October 1991 "Within the Dark Mist" demo. Pestigore formed in 1990 and released a string of demos before disbanding in 1993. All material from the demos recorded between 1990-1993 have been compiled and released on the "Rotten Bowel of Pestigore" compilation album (Headsplit Records, April 2023).
The first two demos from Pestigore were both rehearsal demos and that´s also the case with "Rehearsal Tape 1991" (well...hence the title of the demo). It´s a very basic, raw, and distorted recording and it would be a lie to say that the sound quality is anything near what you´d normally expect from a demo recording. This is through and through a lo-fi recording. Pestigore take us through three simple and predominantly mid-paced old school death metal tracks, which aren´t particularly different from the tracks featured on the preceding demo releases. What makes this demo stand out is the burbing growling vocals, which are somewhat similar to the ditto burbing vocals on the contemporary releases from fellow countrymen in Demilich. Pestigore´s simple, heavy, and meaty death metal however has nothing else in common with Demilich, just to make that perfectly clear.
"Rehearsal Tape 1991" is upon conclusion another sub par old school death metal demo release from Pestigore, and it´s safe to say that they didn´t start out releasing anything which made much of an impact. A 2 star (40%) rating is warranted.