27th August 2021

Review: “Blasphemous Thoughts” by Demonicera

Five years in the making and re-recorded in the summer of 2020 with new drummer Moritz Pik in the fold and the Great Plague reigning terror on the Globe, “Blasphemous Thoughts” could be considered something of a labour of love for Old School Death Metal act Demonicera (pronounced “Demonic Era“). The band was conceived in Innsbruck Austria in 2015 as the brainchild of lead guitarist Rene Gattermair and took two years to premier their first single “Extinction of Nihil” in demo form in 2017. From the outside at least, line up changes seemed to be hampering the bands progression but 2019 saw them unveil second single “Butchered Alive” as well as making their live bow.

Re-recorded with Mike Stöckl at Extinction Studios who also handled production, mixing and bass duties, Demonicera have used the iconic Boss HM2 sound that was synonymous with the Swedish Death Metal scene in establishing their sound for “Blasphemous Thoughts” and when listening to the EP it has all the Old School flavours that made that scene great. As the title track rattles your bones, the influence of bands like Entombed, The Haunted and even Dismember can not only be heard, but felt through the haunting leads and skill crushing percussive battery. There can be no doubting the investment made in these songs by this band, it would have been easy to start again as the line up changes happened but Gattermair has remained the bands leading figure and as “Butchered Alive” hammers nails into the coffin lid of the naysayers, the brutality uncoils like a venomous snake. The vocals are suitably caustic and the raw nature of the recording suits the bands high octane, full caffeine sound and gives it an edge. Gattermair syncopates with Dave Ramella for some lush leads in during “Extinction of Nihil” which owes a lot to the Gothenburg sound that birthed Metalcore in 2003, while Thrash style gang chant moments lift it all and provide another dynamic, for what maybe the bands oldest cut but remains an absolute pleasure. Switching to a more dirge laden sound for “Vomit on the Grave of Christ“, the band grind out approaching 8 minutes of riffs with malicious intent and in doing so give bands like Incarnation a macabre run for their money. It’s dark and brooding as well as being distinctly separate from the other cuts on show here, while also taking a leaf from the Max Cavalera song book and incorporating some tribal sounds before the crushing finale. There is no doubt we want more, the question is, which of the multi faceted sides of this band will appear for the next release? [7.5/10]

Track listing