DEMISER
DEMISER “Slave To The Scythe”
By Theron Moore
South Carolina's DEMISER are getting ready to release “Slave To The Scythe” on August 23 via Black Light Media/Metal Blade Records, the band's sophomore effort. The press release touts DEMISER as... "‘80s thrash, first-wave black metal, death metal, and a healthy dose of NWOBHM." The truth is, DEMISER is second rate MIDNIGHT / BEWITCHER worship and that's about it. Is “Slave To The Scythe” good? Sure, I mean, even a broken clock gets it right twice a day, correct?
“Slave To The Scythe” was recorded in the summer of 2023 with Chase McGuckin at Seaboard Recording Studio in West Columbia, South Carolina. States the band: “We record one at a time with scratch tracks and clicks and all. We recorded with minimal AC, so it was hot as fucking shit.” The band sees “Slave To The Scythe” as the perfect follow up to “Through The Gate Eternal”. States DEMISER: “We feel like it’s a continuation of our first album and upholds the same ripping sound.” Hhhhmmm, sure, OK.
Look, the record itself is third level “OK,” 'It has fallen victim to an overly saturated genre and market right now; this record sounds like a third rate knock off the blackened death-thrash genre itself, and not even the good, top bands that rule this particular level of hell. There's just too much stereotype and prior history with other bands that have made this style of music better, that's all. When I listen to “Slave To The Scythe” it just makes me want to switch over and listen to anything by MIDNIGHT (especially their new album) as well as BEWITCHER.
DEMISER aren't giving me anything new or exciting with this album; I have no idea what their musical identity is, they’re clones of everyone else. They don’t stand out image or music wise, they’re vanilla stick figures in a blackened world of metal soldiers ruled over by the likes of NUNSLAUGHTER, etc. I didn't get anything new or exciting with “Slave To The Scythe” except redundancy. I'm passing on this one, big time.