During the height of the eighties and into the early nineties international tape trading and fanzines served as two primitive networking tools that provided many tiny burgeoning fan bases around the world with their first tastes of foreign artists from the emerging global extreme Metal underground. Tape trading between countries provided a small but valuable chance for exposure to young bands hoping to receive international attention and served as an important catalyst in the emergence of artists of the era. Hailing from the sun drenched, cigar smoking and rum loving island nation of Cuba, Sectarium are one such act whose initial demo tape entitled ‘God’s Wrath’ originally received distribution within South America, Europe and the United States whilst the band themselves became moderately well known within the early Cuban Extreme Metal scene.
‘God’s Wrath’ has been re-released with audio restoration having been handled by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Harmony in Germany. This is an exciting prospect for us Metal fans who frequently scour our online sources for the most obscure, niche and primitive examples of Death Metal especially considering how seldom does the Cuban scene seem to make an appearance in popular Metal discourse. Whilst certainly a restored release ‘God’s Wrath’ is still very much a raw nineties Death Metal demo tape. The only Sectarium release to feature bassist/vocalist Franto Paul before his unfortunate death in 1997 mid-way through the creation of the band’s second demo. ‘God’s Wrath’ showcases the young man’s clearly passionate vocal performance consisting of slightly reverb-doused deep feral growls. The band’s mid tempo approach and highly distorted near fuzzy guitar tones adds a somewhat Doom Metal aspect to their sound. The interlude track ‘Furies’ feels akin to a lost Cuban gramophone record track from the 1930s and serves as an enjoyable reminder of the nation of this demo’s birth.
As was the case for a great many initial releases for this era, this is the sound of a group of young musicians filled with angst, rage and a clear desire to have fun whilst expressing themselves. Whilst the instrumentals aren’t exactly masterfully tight and the drums and guitars often take a moment between riff and tempo changes to re-establish their sense of groove, this is still a fun example of a burgeoning band from an emerging genre and a country that had previously been completely unfamiliar with the sound of it.
