This is part of the embryonic phase of Scandanavian Death metal. As most of you would know Dismember hail from Sweden and this is their most famous of the demo recordings before their first album came out. I am absolutely in love with this recording. The trademark Swedish Death Metal tone pioneered by both Entombed (probably called Nihilist back then) and these guys is there loud and proud. Sure the tone of the recording is a little rough but this captures the guitar tone of the time perfectly and the aggression and youth of this band is captured faultlessly. This is a special moment in time and I would argue the recording is perfect the way it is.
The tracks featured on this recording are the Intro (many demo tapes featured an intro back in those days) then the songs “Dismembered”, “Sickening Art” and “Defective Decay”. The demo while it only goes for around 15 minutes is a pure slab of death metal epic-ness. While the band members themselves would have been quite young this demo displays a rare maturity in melody and musicality.
This recording would be a prime candidate for a re-release. I can only hope the band choose to do this one day. But for now the only real way you can hear this (unless you were lucky enough to be around in Sweden at the time and managed to buy one) is to relive it the magic on youtube.
For more great album reviews be sure to keep checking back on Metalhed.com on a regular basis!