Review: “Demo” by Dreamspeed

Fifteen months after admitting to having a desire to combine Depressive Doom, Post-Black Metal and Screamo to forge their own sound, Australian quartet Dreamspeed have conjured their first burnt offering for our listening pleasure. Channelling influences in Deafheaven, Agalloch and Ragana to name but a few, the four piece took a DIY or DIE approach with drummer George Blacklock mixing and mastering having shared recording duties with bassist Daniel Hacking. The pair are joined by vocalist Han Gunn and guitarist Oli Booth while beginning to make waves in the live arena with appearances of note at both Loudmouth Records’ One Blood Fest and Arrival Festival and Blacken Forever Festival this year.

There is a sense of Scandinavian roots with the warped melancholia of the eerie opening refrains of “Inverse Shadows“, the vicious screams of Gunn sounding very much like a those of a patient in a straight jacket. The contrast between the melody and that almost feral rage may cause some of freeze in fear like a rabbit in the headlights, however as the undulating rhythms gain traction the decent into madness becomes faster until the final crescendo, ripping, pulling and tearing until the final moment, which feels like a cathartic release from traumatic stress that burns the flesh. Piercing screams of “Run!” introduce the downward spiral of “A Ditch Of Your Dimensions“, the haunting melodies having a soul stirring edge as they drag you into the black depths. Subtle tempo shifts and give the sound the nightmarish qualities of a fever dream, the screamed vocals the driving force of this harrowing horror story. If it were a movie then you’d be looking out into the woodland on a cold, damp November day to see a female figure dressed in white appear and disappear as if caught in the space between a blink and a tear. There is an almost Acid Jazz like quality to the dream like LSD trip that forms the first half of “So Sleep” but you can tell that something darker is approaching and as the storm builds so does the gravity of the song as if you’re being sucked into a black hole of despair.

The nightmare continues into “Nothing But Hell“, the crisp clean drum sound meaning you feel every moment as the guitars swirl and the funky melodic bass churns, the vocals creating a battery acid nausea inducing vibe before everything comes crashing down with a wave of blast beats. Gunn screams about a love lost to the winds of plague and the emotional weight carried in the lyrical narrative is nothing short of stunning. “Interlude” then offers a moment of calm reflection as well as a little respite from those banshee wails before “Corpse Light” acts as a grand finale, like the soundscape to an art house movie about a ghost trapped in an asylum for all eternity. A harrowing and bleak listen, this one benefits from some passages of heavier guitars and harder drumming in amongst the prism of cleaner haunting sounds. There is nothing about this record that says its a demo in any way, shape or form, the quality of the recording impressive given the bands DIY or DIE approach and the musicianship involved in creating these haunting soundscapes is mind blowing [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Inverse Shadows
2. A Ditch Of Your Dimensions
3. So Sleep
4. Nothing But Hell
5. Interlude
6. Corpse Light

“Demo” by Dreamspeed is out 6th November 2026 and should be available over at bandcamp