PHLEGETHON — Promo 1995 (review)

PHLEGETHON — Promo 1995 album cover Demo · 1995 · Death 'n' Roll Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Promo 1995" is the third demo recording by Finnish thrash/death metal act Phlegethon. The demo was recorded and released in 1995. Phlegethon disbanded in 1992 after releasing two demos and the 1991 "Fresco Lungs" EP. The latter saw the band suddenly change their style from raw and aggressive thrash metal to an eclectic style of death metal, which is quite honestly a bit hard to describe correctly. Original members Lasse Pyykkö and Teemu Hannonen opted to ressurrect Phlegethon and record this demo tape, but nothing more came of it, and they soon disbanded again. Pyykkö has opted to drop playing the drums here and he instead plays bass and he has also taken over the lead vocal duties. New members are Roland on drums and Saku Hurskainen on lead guitars. The material from "Promo 1995" is included on the January 2010 "Drifting in the Crypt" (Xtreem Music) compilation album.

If "Fresco Lungs" was a bit of a confusing release with its many different genre elements and playing styles mashed together, the three tracks on the 13:57 minutes long "Promo 1995" are slightly more consistent in sound and style. Phlegethon still haven´t decided if they want to play death´n´roll, melodic death metal, or atmospheric death/doom metal, but they combine the genres a little better here than they did on "Fresco Lungs". Unfortunately the overall sound and style of "Promo 1995" isn´t particularly interesting or unique. Pyykkö sings some clean parts, but mostly snarls his way through the demo. He has a sharp, angry, and commanding delivery (which actually isn´t miles from sounding like Satyr from Satyricon).

"Promo 1995" features a clear, detailed, and powerful sounding production job, but upon conclusion this really isn´t what most fans want to hear from Phlegethon, and I don´t think they earned many new ones with this release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted. This isn´t a bad quality release by any means, but it doesn´t sound one bit like Phlegethon and it would probably have been best if it had been released under a different monicker.
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