DEAD HEAD — The Festering (review)

DEAD HEAD — The Festering album cover Demo · 1990 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"The Festering" is a demo release by Dutch death/ thrash act Dead Head. The demo was released in 1990. The demo is a 6 track, 25:18 minutes long release.

...from the sound quality my guess is that the demo was recorded on a 4-track recorder (it may have been an 8-track recorder but I doubt it), which was the most common thing for death- and thrash metal demo releases in the late eighties/ early nineties. Bearing that in mind the sound production is pretty good. It´s by no means a professional sound production but the raw and unpolished sound compliment the intense delivery and aggressive style of the music. We´re talking fiercely aggressive death/ thrash in the vein of early Demolition Hammer, Kreator at their most ferocious and the early output by Danish act Invocator. The intensity level is impressive to say the least. Razor sharp, fast riffing and vocals so caustic they could sear iron.

Out of the 6 tracks on the demo, 2 are shorter interludes, so there are actually only 4 "real" tracks on the demo. The tracks are very convincing though and fully display what Dead Head are capable of. It´s interesting to note that even though the pace is mostly fast and aggressive, the band are also capable of playing heavier parts too. In fact a track like "In Your Room" is a pretty heavy track (for the most part).

"The Festering" is a pretty successful demo to my ears and while I find the songwriting to be slightly imature (especially the slower parts) and the drumming a bit lacking in places (the musicianship is otherwise very solid) it´s hard not to bang your head like a madman and get that sneering "fuck You" attitude on your face while listening to the demo. Somewhere between a 3 and a 3.5 star rating is warranted.
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