Crepuscule – Hybrid Cancer [Demo / Re-Release]

This two-piece Italian band originally self-released this demo in 1992 and then fell off the map… until this 2025 reissue via Columbian label “La Caverna Records”. Members of Crepuscule had previously put out a demo under the band name “High Speed Death” with a slightly different lineup, and that material is a bit heavier on Thrash. While being very raw sounding, it doesn’t quite have the Death Metal teeth that Crepuscule has. This project takes that initial H.S.D. sound as a starting point and takes it down a darker and heavier direction.

The title track “Hybrid Cancer” is a great indicator of where this band is at musically. Some Thrashier riffs mixed with some Grind-influenced sounding guitar parts. The way the drums fit over top of the riffs during some sections is really creative, the drummer is playing along with the guitar and following in a somewhat atypical way which is interesting and sounds influenced by the more technical end of the Thrash Metal sound. There’s some very restrained atmospheric synth patches used sparingly in the middle of a track which is cool because for many bands it’s an intro/outro/interlude ( note “Intro (Obscure Path)” or the end of “Altered Dimension”) but here it’s utilized straight up in the middle of a track just for a few bars which is tasteful.
The guitar is loud, fuzzy and powerful although the remaster certainly cleans up a bit of that muddiness compared to the original. The solos are great and add flourish without turning into a spectacle of self-indulgent wankery, rather a bit of noodling and shredding here and there and then you get thrown back down into the pit of despair.

Vocals are deep and brutal and they sound like a large and/or evil farm animal of some kind. The drums are very bombastic and grandiose – expect tom rolls and a heavy pummelling style with plenty of accents/cymbal chokes and some nice hi-hat work in there. Blasting here is desperate sounding like a creature is close behind you on the hunt. Theres some heavier chunkier parts here and there like on the track “Altered Dimension” but mostly the music is fast-paced hard rocking Death Metal with decent ratio of Thrashier parts cut with your expected nefarious Death Metal tremelo riffs with some influence from NWOBHM and Speed Metal on some of the transitions.

The remaster helps elements that were lost in the fidelity of original demo shine through, some riffs sound fuller but it doesn’t sound too polished or anything to the point it has lost its character. A bit of the mud is sprayed off with a hose but it’s still plenty fuzzy and muddy, don’t fret. I am familiar with the band’s demo and hearing the cleaned up version everything just sits together in the mix a bit heavier and more defined. Doesn’t lose the “soul” of the recording and helps parts like the bass cut through the mix a bit more clearly in parts where everything is rushing and flying at high speed.

Closes off with a (as far as I understand) previously unreleased Mayhem cover taken from a rehearsal, which is cool and reinterprets the classic Black Metal song into something more early-Grindcore sounding to me which sounds cool. Overall this demo presents some technical and very Thrashy Death Metal that is reminiscent of a band like Solstice’s  “Pray for Sentencing” material also from the year 1992 – same ballpark sonically but rawer and darker seeming in comparison. A certified lost gem from the early ‘90s Metal scene in Italy, familiarize yourself ASAP!