ICONOCLASM — Obscurity (review)

ICONOCLASM — Obscurity album cover Demo · 1992 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Obscurity" is a demo cassette tape by Danish, Esbjerg based death metal act Iconoclasm released in 1992. It was the band´s sole release. There were quite a few active bands on the Danish death metal scene in the early to mid nineties, but only a few of them actually got signed and released albums. Iconoclasm has as many other Danish death metal acts from that time remained in obscurity. Maybe some death metal aficionados recognise the name of Iconoclasm guitarist Lars Bangsholt because of his participation on the "A Serenade of Agony (1992)" album by Maceration. A band that also featured Invocator members Jacob Hansen and Jakob Schultz, and Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Witherscape, Unicorn, Nightingale...among others) working under his pseudonym Day Disyraah. But then again Maceration wasn´t exactly a high profile death metal act either, even though it featured some pretty prolific members in the lineup.

"Obscurity" is mastered by Jacob Hansen (and I think he also performs a guest scream somewhere on the demo) and considering that this is a demo release from the early nineties, the sound production is of a relatively high quality. It´s dark, gloomy, and raw, but all instruments and vocals are clear in the mix.

The music on the 4 track (the opener is an intro), 18:14 minutes long demo is doomy death metal with the occasional faster part thrown in. The music is predominantly very, VERY heavy though. Crushingly brutal slow riffing and deep growling vocals, but rather energetic drumming, which drives the music forward. The band also incorporates the rare use of keyboards, which provides the music with variation and an epic touch. Iconoclasm are competent musicians and the music is as a consequence well played.

"Obscurity" is of such high quality that it could well have led to an album deal. I don´t know the reasons that it didn´t happen, but do yourself a favor and seek out the demo if you enjoy really heavy death metal, because this is a demo release worth your time. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Thanks for the recommendation :)
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
If anyone is interested then this demo and many other Danish demos are legally available for free at this location: http://www.danishdemodungeon.dk/

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