UMUR
"Defleshed" is the eponymously titled first demo recording by Swedish death/thrash metal act Defleshed. The demo was independently released in July 1992. Defleshed formed in 1991 and released three demos, a single, and the 1994 "Ma belle scalpelle" EP, before finally releasing their debut full-length studio album "Abrah Kadavrah" in 1996. So they had a longer pre-album streak featuring quite a few minor releases.
The demo features 7 tracks and a total playing time of 17:06 minutes. This early incarnation of Defleshed only featured one of the future core trio members in guitarist Lars Löfven, while none of the remaining members would be featured on anything after "Abrah Kadavrah", so naturally Defleshed sounded a bit different in their formative years, than they did after the trio lineup was finally establised in 1997 on the band´s second full-length studio album "Under the Blade".
But on the other hand Defleshed already this early on had their combination of death metal brutality and thrash metal aggression, pace, and riffs in place. They just leaned a bit more towards death metal here and occasionally even deathgrind than they would later on. The vocals are also closer to death metal growling, than the later rabid dog snarl of Gustaf Jorde (who wouldn´t fully take over the lead vocals until 1996).
Upon conclusion it´s easy to hear the great potential of Defleshed on this demo, althrough it´s still early, raw, and unpolished days. The demo actually features quite the powerful and well sounding demo production values, so that part of the demo is of a good quality. The promise of something greater to come is certainly there and a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.