Welcome to Demo:listen, your weekly peek into the future of underground extreme metal. Whether it’s death, black, doom, sludge, grind, thrash, -core, heavy, speed, punk-, stoner, etc., we’re here to bring you the latest demos from the newest bands. On this week’s Demo:listen we’re under the spell of Spain’s latest black-death diabolists, Deathwomb.
Deathwomb’s demo tape is only a month old, but already nearing its third pressing. Instigator, Deathwomb’s vocalist, guitarist and drummer, claims he never expected such a response. “We made 100 copies and sold all of them in less than a week,” he says. “We’ve made 100 more and [they’re] almost gone again. There’s a third batch of 100 coming from Diabolicusrt Prod. from Asia in October.”
It’s no wonder that Instigator and his bandmate Goatservant (who also play in Supremative together) can’t seem to dub copies of Demo 2017 fast enough. This is the instant-purchase demo of the year if there ever was one. We here at Demo:listen procured our own copy the moment we saw Deathwomb’s promo picture. Nor were we surprised to find out that every one of its four tracks is pure evil, raging, bestial black-death. What is surprising, however, is Deathwomb’s excellent employment of keys, as well as all those ripping solos.
“Deathwomb started as a solo project I created, then I asked Goatservant to help me out with the recording. He agreed and brought the darkest atmosphere . . . The whole demo was recorded at our rehearsal room with a PC, a cheap audio interface and 2 mics. We wanted to sound raw and dark, that’s the way that all our main influences sounded and I think that’s the way it should be for this type of bands. We’re not really good musicians but I think it’s enough to play what we want to play and we’re very pleased with the sound that we got with this demo.”
In case it’s not obvious already, Instigator tells us that Deathwomb’s inspiration is drawn from such bands as “Early Beherit, early Samael, early Behemoth, Profanatica, Black Crucifixion, Demoncy,” and their “veneration of early ceremonial and dark black metal.”
The most unique song on Demo 2017 is the third track, “Enochian Keys.” With its eerie keyboard intro and the ominous riff that follows, “Enochian Keys” conducts quite a foreboding ritual before setting off down its destructive, fiery path.
Instigator explains: “Enochian is a language that was created from a theory that it’s the language used by the apocalyptic angels before the fall of the Tower of Babel. It was written the first time by the occultists John Dee and Edward Kelly after they made connections with fallen angels through occultist rituals. There are 19 Enochian keys written on ancients manuscripts. Sentences full of power to open the gates of Hell and proclaim yourself a disciple of Satan.”
Looking ahead, Instigator confirms that Deathwomb is now four members and that they will be playing live soon. Lately they’ve been writing and rehearsing new material for an LP they hope to have out sometime next year. In the meantime there are (purportedly) still a few copies of the second pressing of Demo 2017 out there. We suggest you procure one with the utmost urgency, by whatever means necessary. Or at least show Deathwomb some support via their Bandcamp. Otherwise you’ll be stuck desperately trying to track down a copy next year after they’ve released their full length and you’ve finally realized how mandatory Deathwomb are as evil spirits are unleashed to ravage the land.
