Demonic Slaughter – Dark Essence (2012)

With a deeply disturbing thick Black Metal sound, today we have Poland’s Demonic Slaughter and their latest EP titled “Dark Essence”. Being almost a full-length release by today’s Black Metal standards, this killer release showcases a very thick and extremely intoxicating devilish atmosphere. Thanks to the heavy guitars and firm vocals, this release surely will unnerve even the most seasoned BM listener.

After the extremely cliché acoustic atmospheric opener, the band goes into full steam with “Inner-self Transfiguration”. In this track the riffing is very typical and the drumming provides the perfect complement. The strong snarls that the band’s vocalist Xaos Oblivion delivers are just right for such a dark and foul sound. While not your average BM release, the band has great knack for creating thick atmospheres with a the basic guitar-drum combo, and being produced and mixed by Xaos Oblivion we suspect this is exactly what the band was going for.

As “Into The Unknown” rears its ugly head, the band tries to go for a Shining (from Sweden) style with powerful riffs and deranged vocals, and they actually pull it off quite nicely. The tempo of this song is pretty solid and the changes here and there make it even more dynamic and entertaining. In “Black Storm Invocation” things seem to slow down a bit to create an even sicker and more demented atmosphere, just like Shining and Bethlehem. While Mr. Xaos Oblivion is no Niklas Kvarforth, he still has a pretty sick singing style, making it one of the most remarkable elements of this release.

Punishing the listener with waves of catchy riffs, “Blades of Decay” nicely round up this very entertaining EP. But the closer “Vampyr” has a very twisted torture-like atmosphere, taking things to a whole new level. We are quite pleased with how the band focuses on atmosphere and on changing things up, not letting and song in this release be dull or predictable. If you are looking for a twisted BM release with solid songs and crazy singing, this is the release for you.

Release: March, 2012

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Poland