E.P. Review: Demonstealer - The Holocene Termination
Reviewed by Sam Jones
So here’s a first. Demonstealer are one of the two main bands that one-man extraordinaire Sahil Makhija is responsible for overseeing when it comes to new material. I had never properly given Demonstealer their due, so this was an ample an opportunity as I was likely ever going to get. Formed way back in 1998, it wouldn’t be until 2008 a full decade later whereby we’d get the first major offering from Demonstealer in the form of …And Chaos Will Reign. However, it would be some years before Demonstealer would properly return with new material likely due to Makhija churning out material for his other project Demonic Resurrection which would see two albums released before returning to Demonstealer, where he would finally release the second full length album titled This Burden Is Mine. 2018 would see The Last Reptilian Warrior, Demonstealer’s third full length release followed by 2020’s E.P. And This Too Shall Pass. We’re effectively in the middle of Demonstealer’s busier phase whereby it’s gone quiet for Demonic Resurrection for the time being, no doubt to be returned to at some point in time once current plans for Demonstealer are me and brought to fruition, which brings us to the band’s latest E.P. titled The Holocene Termination. I’ve often seen Sahil Makhija post in the Bloodstock Forum on Facebook or throughout extreme metal groups and such, he’s a very active individual so it feels good to finally give his hard work its due. This is The Holocene Termination, the latest E.P. from austere and focused Indian mastermind Sahil Makhija.
For an E.P. I was absolutely loving the vocals, not necessarily for the very high-quality performance that is evidently on show for us but the general presence they manage to evoke. When you’re listening to this E.P. play it’s quite captivating to hear the vocals perform as not only do you feel the power therein, but you fully believe in the physical performance the vocals deliver. It’s a vocal delivery that you can believe in, not merely something conjured from some static, solitary position. The energy contained within just explodes regardless whether the vocals are of a cleaner, chant-like delivery, the growling variation or a narrower and more piercing performance. What kept drawing me into their performance was how I knew it was just one man pulling off these vocals the entire way through and realising he was capable at regulating his own vocal cords at multiple points throughout any respective track as he continued to change up what style of vocal delivery he would utilise. That is not easy to pull off hence why many extreme metal bands may implement several members for the varying vocal deliveries. The fact that this is all from one man, aside from one vocal delivery towards the end of the E.P., is incredible.
I thoroughly enjoyed the fluid and organic sounding riff work that was going on here. When you’re listening through this E.P. the songwriting isn’t of a wholly rigid and utterly regimented nature, it’s striking as to how open-ended the music is and how it can move from one side of affairs to a completely different side just a few moments later. The tracks in question all have particular structures that make themselves abundantly clear to you, so you understand what the general shape of the music is in relation to what track is playing however within those individual timespans the songwriting is given all the space and time needed to move about in, so things don’t just feel like they’re following a checklist or schedule of track progressions. Blast beats will come and go, guitar work can possess blockier riff pieces before undergoing neck sweeps and then moving on to more precisely intricate sections which bring us back down to Earth. It is genuinely staggering how Demonstealer aren’t amongst the premiere one-man metal acts on Earth with songwriting and efforts of this august calibre. I am deadly serious on that.
Listening to this E.P. though is like listening to a speaker up close where you feel the baritone and deep boosts of Bass flowing outwards. More often than not when Demonstealer want to grab your attention there’s no debate or council on the matter, you are going to listen no matter where you are or what you’re doing since the riffs and drums often play together in collaboration and it’s rare to find one playing without the nearby reinforcement of the other. As the music is playing at faster rates this is the norm as the band are laying down the power they can give which, when overladen by the aforementioned vocals, creates a suffocating and cyclonic soundscape which makes it all so difficult to find your way out of, if you’d ever want a way out in the first place that is. It’s during the songwriting’s blockier and more determined segments where this conjunction of bass, drumming and riffs all blend together to create something as powerful and hammering as Demonstealer demonstrate themselves capable of providing, for when these moments come by they’re a real wakeup call and it’s this punching impact which renders their presence impossible to turn away from.
The drumming here is utterly incessant. The sheer power the double bass drums are able to deride out of their bombardments, even when they’re both being utilised anyway, is just staggering. I think it also helps that the E.P... has a good level of Bass being fed into it via the mix which aids the dual drumming and riff combination we spoke of beforehand, as a result when the drums do undergo the most ferocious and eviscerating periods of their performance they strike with barrelling impact, creating the rolling thunder that is as hypnotic to experience as it is devastating to be in the direct path of. Blast beats come and go as well so we’re not always being subjected to the same and repeated drumming pattern all the time either, so when the pacing does increase and those blast beats return once more we’re waiting for them. It’s like experiencing a high and understanding fully that we will receive it once again, it’s guaranteed.
In conclusion, I was left utterly dumbfounded by this E.P. Demonstealer are one of those bands I’ve always known of yet had never given them their due. Quite frankly, anyone who hasn’t designated this as amongst their preferred or top E.P.s of the year simply haven’t heard it yet, I am absolutely convinced this must be the case. The consistent quality this E.P. boasts is ridiculously high, it’s what I would expect from a full studio record release and honestly had Demonstealer released a full length album this year in place of this E.P. it would certainly be amongst my favourites of the year if this material’s quality is anything to go by. I sometimes need to remind myself that, again instrumentally and vocally, it’s all done by one man. I’ve reviewed several one-man acts before now however very few come close to what Demonstealer have accomplished here. I could have listened to double this length of material all over again, the next album Demonstealer drop is one that’s going to have my instant and undivided attention for sure. The calibre of professionalism and work ethic that has gone into this E.P. is extraordinary, demonstrating how Sahil Makhija, the man himself, is a tirelessly hardworking individual who deserves so much more credit than he already rightfully receives. Absolutely worth your time and deeply recommended, Demonstealer are arguably the foremost extreme metal act of the entire Eastern World. I’m serious, I’ll put that in writing if need be.
