UMUR
"Demo '92" is the second demo recording by Finnish death metal act Coprophilia. The demo was independently released in the summer of 1992. Coprophilia were a relatively shortlived act who only released two demos during their early 90s career (they disbanded in 1993). The material from both demos have been reissued on the 2021 "Steam of Stertorous Cadaver... Demo Tapes 1991-1992" compilation album (Old Skull Productions, October 2021). Before forming Coprophilia in the early 90s, some of the members of the band had been active on the Finnish punk/hardcore scene.
Stylistically this is an even more early Carcass influenced goregrind/death metal release than the first demo, which featured a few more death metal elements and slow death/doom metal parts (which are also stylistic elements on this demo, but the scale has tipped towards the goregrind part of the band´s sound). This is more filthy, noisy, and savage sounding. The sound quality is decent, although rather noisy and chaotic sounding, but to my ears that just provides the music with the right gloomy and vile atmosphere.
Coprophilia are a very well playing band, and it´s something you notice right away when listening to the demo. Everything is delivered with great skill and precision, but still with an organic touch. The drummer is for example absolutely on fire, driving the music forward in a fast-paced brutal fashion, with the distorted guitars almost sounding like a swarm of angry bees underneath, and the sick and depraved gurgling/juicy growling in front. The music also occasionally features morbid guitar leads, which are great for the variation of the songs, but also for the atmosphere of the demo.
Although this second demo is a more raw and unpolished recording compared to the first demo, I think this one is just a notch more interesting. The songwriting is pretty equally great on both demos, but the filthy, raw, and authentic sounding production on this demo just gives it something special. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted.