DEMIGOD Slumber of Sullen Eyes LP 1st Press private metal Immolation Death Grave

$

152

SHIPPING:  US Domestic. $5 will get you up to THREE records at no extra cost (Double lp's count as TWO). So bid on one, bid on THREE. Shipping includes a PRO MAILER with cardboard backing and a TRACKING NUMBER. INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING WILL COST $16 for airmail and $26 for Registered with a tracking number. Wait for an invoice--certain countries like ITALY have to have registered shipping. I am an old collector, I know how to pack and ship!
vg++/vg++ ORIGINAL DC 008 FINNISH DEATH CLASSIC. Includes insert. Looks and Plays great.
Hailing from Finland, home to some of the best death metal around, Demigod released their first album, Slumber Of Sullen Eyes, in 1992. In addition, most of Finland’s great death metal is from the period from 1990-1996, so Demigod fits perfectly within this frame. In a sense, this is classic Finnish death metal. At the same time, Demigod did enough differently to stand out from their peers, who were all releasing great albums themselves, while also staying quite true to the Finnish sound.

For starters, this album is packed full of excellent riffs, one of the defining characteristics of Finnish death metal. More importantly, the guitars have “that tone” which leaves no doubt in the listener’s mind as to where this is from. Just as Swedish death metal (real death metal, not that Gothenburg crap) has its trademark “buzzsaw” guitar sound, Finnish death metal has a somewhat deeper, heavier sound with more emphasis on low-end frequencies and bass presence. This sound alone defined an entire scene, but in Demigod’s case, they took this defining sound and transformed it just enough so that they could make this sound their own.

This is clear from the first track here, ‘As I Behold I Despise’. Starting with the standard blastbeats and tremolo-picked riffs, Demigod quickly transitions into a more groove-laden riff, while also varying up the drums on multiple occasions throughout the duration of this riff’s presence. Beneath the deep guttural vocals, the great riffs just keep coming. At this point though, the more melodic part of Demigod’s music starts to appear, with a deep, gloomy, melancholic guitar lead. This lead reappears soon later after another lead and transitions into a short solo. More important, however, is the simple chord pattern employed under the lead guitar. This simple, depressing-sounding rhythm is critical to defining the despair-filled atmosphere of this song. Towards the end of the song, one of the guitarists continues to use this rhythm while the other plays a slower version of the lead from before, adding even more to the atmosphere. The song then ends with a simple riff over some relatively slow double bass drumming.

While all of the songs on this album are distinct from each other, this serves as a prime example for explaining what Demigod do and how well they do it. They retain the pummeling Finnish death metal sound while also incorporating small, simple, melodic segments that serve to add to the atmosphere already established with the vast array of riffs that they utilize. The relatively consistent, mid-paced nature of the music gives it the freedom to speed things up or slow things down when necessary to convey a given emotion, while also being at the perfect speed for hearing every detail in each riff.

Just listen to the next song, ‘Dead Soul’, and hear how different it is from its predecessor. The riffs change much more quickly than before (also, that riff at 0:28 is badass…just felt like putting that out there), but also appear in the song multiple times, each with different percussion behind them. This variation emphasizes both the riffs themselves as well as the percussion, which, although relatively unobtrusive, also contributes greatly to the atmosphere. Then, towards the end, we get a harmonized guitar rhythm which just works perfectly after the build-up and leads into a classy, but short, solo to end.

This is a trend that continues throughout the album, whether it be with the evil-sounding tremolo picked riff that starts off ‘The Forlorn’ (as well as the great riff right after), or the melodic leanings of ‘Tears Of God’. Slumber Of Sullen Eyes is a perfect example of an album full of exquisite subtleties that combine to create a unique and mesmerizing musical experience.

But what cannot be ignored is the title track. This song is filled to the brim with all of the qualities I’ve already mentioned, but at an even higher level of quality. The riffs here are just a bit more evil, the atmosphere a bit more bleak, the melodic leads a bit more supportive. Everything here just clicks in a way that makes you look at the entire album in a different way. This song is what defines the sound of the album. The counterpoint toward the end of the track is just the icing on the death metal cake as far as things go. With the solid harsh vocals screaming above them, this creates the perfect mental image of what this album represents. And as soon as we think that they’re done, Demigod present what might be one of the best rhythm pieces on the album starting at 5:18, with a rather catchy riff played over a great mix of cymbals and a more noticeable bass presence. The drums vary up between this nice mix of cymbals to traditional double bass drumming. Overall, this song encapsulates everything that this album is about.

The rest of the songs contain this sort of atmosphere and general direction, including the second to last track, ‘Perpetual Ascent’, an instrumental. With a bit of synthesized choir vocals in the back, Demigod display excellent musicianship by writing a dark and depressing song comprised entirely of slow, heavy riffs and melodic leads instead of resorting to bombastic solos. This leads to a fitting end to an album full of great songwriting and execution.

What we have here is a display of great songwriting ability used to create a sonic landscape filled with a wonderfully dark atmosphere. The riffs presented are all excellent both in terms of retaining that death metal groove we all know and love and in terms of contributing to the overall tone of the album. While much more atmospherically oriented than other Finnish death metal albums of its time, Slumber Of Sullen Eyes still embodies the Finnish death metal sound as well as any.