UMUR
"Church of Deviance" is the second demo release by Swedish death metal act Spawn of Possession. The demo was independently released in September 2001. It succeeds "The Forbidden" demo from 2000. There´s been one lineup change since the first demo as bassist Niklas Dewerud has been added to the lineup, making Spawn of Possession a quartet on "Church of Deviance".
"Church of Deviance" features 3 tracks and a total playing time of 9:08 minutes. More is not needed though to convince the world of the greatness of Spawn of Possession. Jaw-dropping brutal and technical death metal, featuring constant rhythm changes, breaks, and an arsenal of fast-paced brutal riffs. Drummer Dennis Röndum also handles the vocals, and he has a mean and relatively intelligible growling vocal style, which suits the material perfectly. All three tracks on "Church of Deviance" would subsequently be re-recorded and included on the band´s debut full-length studio album "Cabinet" (2003), and that probably makes this demo a bit redundant today, but back then, two years before the release of "Cabinet" (2003), Spawn of Possession definitely put their name on the map.
"Church of Deviance" features a professional and well sounding production job. Every detail is audible in the mix, and there is a good balance between brutality and rawness and technical sophistication and complexity. Upon conclusion "Church of Deviance" is probably one of the most impressive death metal demo releases I have yet come by, and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.