Desultory – Darkness Falls (The Early Years) [Compilation]

In a longer series of unearthed demos presented by Darkness Shall Rise Productions from Germany, this summer it was Desultory’s turn for revealing their earliest steps. On ‘Darkness Falls (The Early Years)’ we are served with the band’s three demos in chronological way in order to listen to the band as it progressed into what would become one of the more underrated bands out of the influential and then thriving Swedish Death Metal scene. Not only is this a great release for those interested in learning the first steps of Desultory, it might also help with giving the band some well-deserved recognition. Something I always felt they got way too little, and Daniel Ekeroth’s book on Swedish Death Metal didn’t do much justice to Desultory either…

Ekeroth, an average musician at best himself, described the band as being too simple and thinks that Desultory’s melodicism was not at the same level as At The Gates. With only a few lines in his Death Metal compendium he was definitely selling this band from Stockholm short on a massive scale. Not only was the majority of Desultory’s body of work way more intricate and ingenious than the lion’s share of its peers, but their way of using melody was smart and showed their skill in unorthodox song writing. Obviously, it did turn out it wasn’t exactly everybody’s cup of tea and the masses went for the easier to digest bands such as Entombed and, indeed, At The Gates. But that doesn’t mean Desultory had nothing to offer. On the very contrary, I would say.

It is no surprise that 1993’s ‘Into Eternity’ is widely regarded as the band’s finest hour, that album fits best into the trodden paths of the Swedish Death Metal tradition. It offers some good grooves and a rather crisp sound, but even that record isn’t all that typical. It still shows a lot of Thrash Metal riffs, had good dynamics and already had the more unorthodox tempo changes and ways to incorporate melodies.

That specific tendency, to sound just different from the rest, was already there on the band’s first demo tapes. The first one, ‘From Beyond’ from 1990, is the most thrashy of them all and clearly shows the band’s Thrash Metal roots – some of the band members were allegedly in the short-lived Swedish Thrash Metal band Flotzilla (of which the name was obviously taken from Flotsam & Jetsam). The deliciously up-beat tempos and the rough vocals made that ‘From Beyond’ went down as a rather good Death/Thrash Metal demo tape, quite free from standard Swedish influences. But if ‘From Beyond’ showed something in particular, then it is that the band members, even at this early stage, were very competent musicians and song writers.

The band’s second demo, ‘Death Unfolds’ from 1992, clearly shows that the band was already shifting towards a more recognizably Death Metal sound. The Thrash Metal riffs are still there and especially the great, brisk up-beat tempo reminds of the Thrash Metal aesthetics, but like many early Death Metal bands a bit of Thrash Metal just belonged to their musical DNA. But, that sort of Death Metal was way more common in the USA and certain parts of Europe, The Netherlands most notably, than it was in Sweden. Possibly another reason why Desultory wasn’t getting as much attention as some of the way more straight forward sounding bands from the Scandinavian country. ‘Death Unfolds’ can be seen as somewhat of a transitional demo tape that still holds lots of the thrashing charm of its predecessor but also started to show in what direction the band was heading.

On ‘Visions’, the 3-track demo from 1993, the band was showing its true potential. Produced by the famous Tomas Skogsberg in his Sunlight Studios, this is the first time Desultory was clad with a more or less Swedish buzz sawing sound. Not quite as heavy as the other bands around, but certainly the guitars have a gritty structure that feels closest to the Swedish tradition. But, Desultory wouldn’t be Desultory if they weren’t just a bit different. So, they kept their unorthodox song writing and their outstanding musicianship allowed them to be far more inventive and creative than your average Nihilist-copycat. Especially in the melody department the band already shows what direction the band was thinking, the rumbling bass accompanies the leads into almost Heavy Metal-tinged epicness. Something that would further flourish and get to full blossom on the band second full-length record, ‘Bitterness’ from 1994.

What also helps the effectiveness of those demo tapes is the incredibly good sound. All of them, including the very first one, sound rather clean, but with so much punch to it that it is no surprise that House Of Kicks Records put both of Desultory’s last demos on a 12” EP in 1992 – easy to cash in on an upcoming trend. Yet, this is the very first time that all three of those demos surface together and those who go for the vinyl version can also look forward to a nice 20-page 12’ booklet. A compilation definitely worthy of your money and most definitely a worthy homage to the early days of an underrated and underappreciated band; who cares what a meaningless musician like Ekeroth thinks.