Ohio’s Extreme Metal scene is a great example of an underlooked phenomena in the metal world as a whole. Dead of Night’s demo is a prime reason why I’d think more people should dig into a niche of this sort because not only do bands such as this are reminiscent of already well known bands such as At the Gates and Dissection, the music written by said musicians are unique and dynamic in their different way separate from their influences. It is a demo that personally ranks up very high for me and might be in my top 3 along with ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ and maybe something like ‘Grip of Darkness’ by Adramelech. It is an album that serves a lot to the metal stratosphere yet is pretty undercredited for what this band did despite pre-dating the explosion of more melodic death metal influenced hardcore bands from Boston. It may be forgotten by some but since Hell’s Headbangers reissued this on vinyl and cd along with the From the Depths discography I’d figure it would be a perfect time to shine some light on this.
The promotional demo is described on the back sleeve of the original pressing as a mixture of Death Metal such as the aforementioned At the Gates, Entombed and Dismember as well as Thrash Metal such as Slayer, Kreator and Metallica. While a description that I would call accurate to their influences showcased by some of the expressive and effective drumming that lays down the template for this cd’s more thrash oriented side and often throws in curve balls to the overall structure of the songs. It evaluates the riffs that while they mirror the album ‘Slaughter of the Soul’ first and foremost and also mirrors old school metal such as Destruction and Mercyful Fate in the slower tempo parts. Lots of variety in the tunes overall from swings like in the opener’s bridge ‘Cold Embrace’. A song that transitions into a more standard thrash part mixing ‘Terrible Certainty’/‘Extreme Aggression’ and early Destruction. Showing the diversity with the guitar riffs utilizing different guitar playing techniques. In the case of said showcasing the range of their German Thrash influences such as nimble staccato downpicking and more technical lead frills.
Another prime example of how diverse this promo cd can get within it’s 4 song duration, take the song ‘Well of Deception’ as an excellent example of their more Swedish Melodic Black and Death Metal side. Combining parts that reflects Dissection’s groovy rhythmic galloping parts ala ‘Storm of the Light’s Bane’ and slower dense parts that often resembles a swing you’ll hear off of ‘Terminal Spirit Disease’. A superb effort on offering a varied songwriting palette from influences from both old and new school metal.
The bass playing ties everything together as well. A rather chunky and distorted tone that as well plays around with the riffs being provided at hand. Songs such as the previously discussed in depth tune ‘Well of Deception’ and the catchiest tune on here ‘Seasons of the Witch’. These tracks have a lot more meat to chew on the bone because of the way it either follows along with the melody or the guitars or in a few different cases offers a counterpart to said lead or rhythm currently being played at. The stop/start parts in ‘Season of the Witch’ are much more powerful because of how impactful and violent the bass tone is on here.
What tops off this release’s brilliance is the vocals done by one Duane Morris, later known for Nunslaughter, Kurnguia and previously known for Decrepit and From the Depths. The vocals sound very much like Tomas Lindberg from At the Gates was the influence. However, Duane takes his vocals to the next level here in my personal opinion as it is far more unhinged and even “tortured” sounding. It further helps that the vocal patterns written here are relatively immediate and have that ‘sing-along’ feel some very early Death Metal bands like Death or the first few Morbid Angel albums have. Often playing off the riffs off hand delivering a staccato feeling that the guitar playing has at hand. Pushing the music in a more efficient and almost for lack of a better term ‘pop-oriented’ structure to these songs.
Mentioning ‘Well of Deception’ again the song’s vocal structure bounces off the music in so many ways. Such as in rapid pounding rhythms that detaches itself from every other measure during its duration. Near the track’s bridge during said section, the staccato arrangement is still there yet is following the guitar’s main framework, before kicking off into a kickass Iron Maiden esque solo before a riffs refrain devolving the song into a galloping Manowar feel before closing off the promo at hand.
When I found out about this promo when it was more wildly unknown. Thankfully, as mentioned before this what would have been otherwise lost to time release was re-released by Hell’s Headbangers on the ‘Complete Discography’ of the band From the Depths on a triple cd set. Not only that but the separate releases in this band’s discography were pressed on vinyl for all the world to listen to. For people interested in bands of the Melodic Blackened Death Metal thing with an old school attitude to boot, I highly recommend this release as well as the other albums this act put out. They are also available on YouTube to listen to for free and to buy a digital copy on Bandcamp. If this peaks your curiosity, I’d recommend getting a hold of this via those resources.
