siLLy puPPy Just when you thought DEMILICH had lived up to their band name and transported themselves to another plane of existence, they return on this 20th anniversary release celebrating the release of their one and only full album “Nespithe.” Here they have unleashed upon us a remastered boxed set of their entire output in a way that every band should. 20TH ADVERSARY OF EMPTINESS is a nightmare come true containing not only the remastered rerelease of “Nespithe” but also the four demos completely remastered as well: “Regurgitation Of Blood,” “The Four Instructive Tales… Of Decomposition,” “…Somewhere Inside The Bowels Of Endlessness” and “The Echo.” It wouldn’t be a proper box set without a few new tracks unavailable anywhere else and they include three new tracks called the “Vanishing Sessions” from their brief comeback in 2006.

The double disc set i possess is chock full of detailed liner notes including an interview with DEMILICH founder and head deviant Antti Boman. The package is also lavishly graced with an entirely new album cover depicting the same grotesque world as seen on “Nespithe” The new cover is also from Turkka Rantanen but worry not for the original “Nespithe” cover is on the inside of the packaging obscured only by CD1 upon which it exists. The remastering job is excellently done and breaths new life into the 20 plus year recordings making them sound fresh and dynamic. Box sets rarely get the job done as well as this one. Not only is this the perfect one-stop shop to acquire DEMILICH’s entire output but they also released several collectors items such as a 3LP set limited to 1000 copies with 150 on transparent blood red vinyl, 350 on transparent gloomy green vinyl and 500 on good old-fashioned black vinyl. Maybe not quite as exciting as a full-fledged new album but a perfect release of this unique band’s entire history.

siLLy puPPy After releasing four solid demos, DEMILICH solidified their technical death metal approach by evolving from the old school death metal similar to Bolt Thrower to the full-fledged progressive death metal band they would become on their first and only full-length album NESPITHE. The band is basically the brainchild of vocalist and guitarist Antti Boman who formed the band in Kuopio, Finland in1990. The band name DEMILICH comes from the Dungeons & Dragons game. A lich in the game is a spell caster seeking to defy death through magical means and a DEMILICH is a lich that exists long enough to reach a point in its evolution where it turns away from the physical realm and accesses other planes of existence. The title NESPITHE shows Antti Boman’s love of world play as it is simply an anagram of “The Spine.” This wordplay also finds its way into some of the tracks like “Erecshyrinol” which once the letters are switched around becomes “No Lyrics Here.”

One of the most striking and immediate differences with DEMILICH in contrast to every other metal band out there is the immediate effect of the vocals. Antti Boman went somewhere few others in all of music go by employing extremely low gurgled vocals. This is called the vocal fry register and is the lowest of all vocalizations. Despite the evil sounding nature of this technique, it is used rarely in different genres ranging from gospel to country music but has found a more suitable home in its extreme forms in various forms of metal music with DEMILICH taking this to the utmost extreme where Antti sounds like he’s gurgling his own blood or vomit or something equally disgusting! However once you’ve inured to the vocals which are the most immediate difference from death metal contemporaries, it is really the technical wizardry of the instruments and song structures that stand out. The instrumental prowess of Mikko Virnes’ drumming is the backbone or the spine or NESPITHE of the entire musical flow. His bizarre rhythms and jazz-tinged lightning fast drum rolls provide the perfect canvass for the guitar riffs and bass lines to build some highly technical death metal that can sound alienating upon first listen but i have found it to be addicting. The song structures provide plenty of surprises and unpredictability while staying firmly in the death metal camp complete with heavy riffing, blastbeats, Morbid Angel type soloing and, of course, macabre and deranged subject matter!

NESPITHE is simply a wild and aggressive romp through the darkest and most forboding sonicscapes one can think of. DEMILICH successfully takes you into another world on NESPITHE that matches the intensity of the hellacious album cover (no matter which one you may encounter). The alienating vocals mixed with the aggressive dissonant and inapposite instrumentation is a successful recipe that rewards the progressive rock aficionado while satisfying the most extreme head banger in the metal music universe. This is a rare combination for the individuals who love complexity and have a craving for challenging music that requires repeated listens to decipher. NESPITHE is one of those rare technically constructed extreme metal albums that ranks high on my list of classic masterpieces that employs progressive techniques, high speed aggression and atmospheric escapism. I personally have never had a problem with the gurgled vocals. One of the things that puzzles me is how complacent the metal community can be as a whole, preferring to worship consistency and musical complacency rather than rewarding true artistic deviations from the norm. Perhaps this was too much too fast for some but for me NESPITHE sits high on my list as one of the most innovative extreme metal albums of the ages. As with the previous demos you can find NESPITHE on the digitally remastered compilation “20th Adversary Of Emptiness” which includes every single thing the band ever recorded.

siLLy puPPy THE ECHO is the fourth and final demo EP by Finnish tech death metal band DEMILICH before the release of their one and only full album release “Nespithe.” No more evolutionary processes needed. DEMILICH basically reached their tech death prowess on the “…Somewhere Inside The Bowels Of Endlessness…” demo EP and only continue it on THE ECHO. Like on “Bowels…” these tracks are the other half of “Nespithe” minus “When The Sun Drank The Weight Of The Water.” In other words, that track plus the two EPs that precede “Nespithe” equal “Nespithe” but due to the fact that all four demos were released on cassette in extremely limited quantities it ensures that the market will never be flooded therefore “Nespithe” remains the most practical way to obtain all of these tracks in a much better rendition. There is nothing noticeably different between this demo and “..Somewhere…” It is simply a continuation of the very few tech death metal tracks that DEMILICH created in its way too short career. OK guys, this demo stuff is getting old, release a real album already! As with the previous demos you can find this on the digitally remastered compilation “20th Adversary Of Emptiness” which includes every single thing the band ever recorded. This cassette contained no artwork and was released only as a naked cassette. Now that’s death metal!!!

siLLy puPPy A huge development in production graces the third demo EP by DEMILICH. Continuing their musical journey into the horrific and macabre on …SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE BOWELS OF ENDLESSNESS…. the band continue to evolve their sound a few notches. While Antti Boman’s trademark gurgled vocals on the vocal fry register have become familiar territory by now, the rest of the band has really taken off and the compositional approach has progressed way past the simple Bolt Thrower influenced death metal of the first demo. Mikko Virnes’ drumming skills containing complex patterns and occasional blastbeats are the most noticeable on the evolutionary tree between demos and at this point has become the rhythmic leader upon which the guitars, bass and chord progressions have constructed themselves around.

It must also be mentioned that Aki Hytönen’s bass and additional guitar duties have also developed a distinct sound apart from the other instruments. There are also guitar solos of the Morbid Angel type spastically weaving their way into the scheme of things. The band has in effect reached the point of proficiency as heard on “Nespithe” and in fact all five tracks are early recordings of tracks that appear on “Nespithe.” But hold on! …there’s still one more demo EP before we get to that classic. No need to hunt this down as it was released in cassette form only and probably impossible to find in that format. Instead find this on the digitally remastered compilation “20th Adversary Of Emptiness” which includes every single thing the band ever recorded.

siLLy puPPy THE FOUR INSTRUCTIVE TALES… OF DECOMPOSITION was the second demo EP released by tech death metal band DEMILICH in 1991 and pretty much continues from the first EP “Regurgitation Of Blood.” While Antti Boman’s trademark hellish gurgled vocals in the vocal fry range are prevalent, the musicianship is still not up to par as to what the band would conjure up on “Nespithe” however it has taken a few steps in that direction. Firstly Mikko Virnes’ drumming patterns have become more complex and are beginning to lead the way in the unique angular rhythms the band has become famous for. The titles are becoming more outlandish and despite being clearly Carcass inspired have taken the whole gorefest approach to a new level by adding alien twists and turns to the whole thing. Just check out “And The Slimy Flying Creatures Reproduce In Your Brains!” The guitars and bass, however, are still basic old school death metal with Bolt Thrower being the band that sounds most similar to my ears. The music continues to conjure up shock and awe with an immense appetite for the most macabre, hideous and funereal subject matter the human mind can conceive. I love it! No need to hunt this down as it was released in cassette form only and probably impossible to find in that format. Instead find this on the digitally remastered compilation “20th Adversary Of Emptiness” which includes every single thing the band ever recorded.