DEATH — Death by Metal (review)

DEATH — Death by Metal album cover Demo · 1984 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Death By Metal" is the first demo release by US, Florida based death metal act Death. The demo was independently released in late 1984. It´s actually a reissue of the "Death By Metal" demo by Mantas with some tracklist changes. Death originally formed under the Mantas Monicker in 1983 but after releasing the September 1984 "Death By Metal" demo, they changed their name to Death, and opted to reissue the Mantas demo under their new monicker.

The four tracks from the Mantas demo are also featured on this version of the demo, but some tracks have changed place on the tracklist. In addition to those changes Death have included "Beyond the Unholy Grave", which was not included on the Mantas version of the demo.

Stylistically the material is brutal thrash/an early take on death metal. It´s actually quite savage and brutal for the time, and while it´s still heavily thrash metal infused, I´ll dare call this the first example of death metal brutality. Lee is the primary vocalist, while Schuldiner sings on one song and the vocals vary from growling to higher pitched snarling screaming. The band are well playing considering their young age (I´m especially impressed by Lee´s drumming and the sharpness of the guitar riffs, but the vocals are also very well performed), and the sound production is actually decent too for a late 1984 extreme metal demo. The remaining tracks wouldn´t survive and be included on Death´s debut full-length studio album "Scream Bloody Gore" (May 1987, Combat Records), but "Evil Dead" would. It´s presented here in a version which really isn´t that different from the subsequent studio version.

Upon conclusion "Death By Metal" is an important historical document (both the Mantas and the Death versions of the demo) because it´s such an influential release on the early death metal scene and in addition to being a seminal death metal release, it´s actually a pretty entertaining and powerful listen too, featuring a decent sounding production. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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