Album Review: Demiser - Slave to the Scythe
Reviewed by Sam Jones
I haven’t touched upon blackened thrash metal for some time, so when Demiser came round showcasing a new album to drop I knew I had to have a look. Formed in 2018 out of South Carolina, United States, Demiser are a blackened thrash band who have previously entered my attention sometime ago, namely when they released their first studio album, Through The Gate Eternal, back in 2021. However the band had previously released two Demos in 2018 and ’19 respectively before working upon that aforementioned first album. Another three years on, Demiser have returned to unleash their sophomore studio album, Slave To The Scythe, via Blacklight Media penned down for an August 23rd release. Featuring some wicked artwork I knew I had to check this record out, and thus we dive head first into some blackened thrash straight out of South Carolina.
For a record that’s coined as blackened thrash, Demiser offer up a surprisingly clean performance on record that leaves little to any imagination. It’s often the case with blackened thrash that bands in question will prefer a muddied, more gritty sort of record aesthetic to really buy into the evil they’re seeking to purport. Curiously, Demiser went for a far more straightforward approach where the production shows nothing that can create any barriers between ourselves and the songwriting. It’s honestly a little refreshing as, over time, you naturally pick up on tropes and similar ideas across various subgenres, so to find Slave To The Scythe be this extremely polished work is a wondrous surprise. Now, some may find this record a little too clean for their liking and prefer the nastier form most blackened thrash utilised; on the other hand, it means nothing on record shall mar the band’s performance to convey their visceral assault your way. Any riff or wailing solo they want to thrust at you, they can do precisely that, and the guitar tone possesses this rather crisp and ripping timbre without it becoming anything overtly grating. It renders Slave To The Scythe an ease of listening which I’ve found is particularly rare amongst Blackened thrash.
Likely an effect of the band’s cleaner production, the guitar work here is extremely eligible and therefore, we can follow every turn and change in the songwriting that the riffs make. It’s important to note that Demiser aren’t merely playing blackened thrash to lacerate your throat, but they’re looking to honestly entertain you without having the need to kill you at each turn. The truth is Demiser periodically take their foot off the pedal in a number of places, at least once during each track, and so they switch their attention from killing you to writing music that’s interesting and engaging. There may be a moment where the riffs are downright progressive in playing as the band undergo more developmental sequences that are far removed from your typical blackened thrash metal; there are times where their songwriting adopts a more melodic nature though it’s not for long, forming a bridge connecting to the track’s next main segment. This point is drive home the band’s experimentation within blackened thrash, for just a few minutes into Slave To The Scythe I was fully on board with confidence for anything they may yet do.
But you know what? This album is really fun. Blackened thrash metal isn’t usually your first port of call when desiring a fun metal record, yet Slave To The Scythe is exactly that. I think a great many bands do focus on the more evil nature of this style of metal, but Demiser really do allow themselves the freedom of having fun with it, and since we acknowledge the band are having a blast, the feeling is reciprocated. It enables us to sit back fully and just take in everything the band have lined up for us. Additionally, each track doesn’t run for long either aside from the album’s closing opus, so anyone unsure about this style of record won’t have to endure it for too long before coming to an informed decision. Since the band are vying for that typically crushing and evil aesthetic, it allows us to really lower our guard and just bask in the music they’ve written for us; that being said, Demiser still provide a performance that’s going to get your heart racing and the veins beating, but it’s not like the band are expecting you to keep up with them at any point. The band aren’t looking to judge nor anticipate anything from you; it’s just fun metal that doesn’t take itself too seriously and the record goes by like a breeze because that pressure isn’t being exerted upon us.
I’ve also found the drums to exceptional too. Since the band are working with a production that’s much lighter; it gives them the freedom to let the instrumentation breathe more than had they merely laid their aesthetic deep with a muddier production. The opening seconds of the record are something to raise your eyebrows at, since the drums are looking to do more than just devastate our senses with constant blast beats and bass drums. Behind the kit is a drummer who clearly understands their craft because the drum tracks herein are powerful and absorb all the energy you’re putting into the record, but it never feels like the drums are out of place at any point. Whilst the riffs are playing the fast and ripping form of blackened thrash you’d expect, the drums are predominantly very stripped down and aren’t seeking to destroy us. But then you have sequences where the drumming is elevated to more destructive heights, yet only when coupled alongside the riffs and vocals that are also climbing with intensity. So whilst the drums may pound us when necessary, their overall approach is nicely simplified which, in turn, results in our attention piquing since we don’t feel the need to exert anything more actively than normal regarding this record. Blast beats and bass drums may populate the album, but Demiser never insinuate that that is the only force the drums may infer.
In conclusion, Slave To The Scythe is a really engaging ride that’s going to satisfy that itch of blackened thrash to great degree. But more than that, it manages to be this fun listen without it falling under the usual characteristics of what usually determines a “fun” album. It’s clear the band wanted to write a metal record anyone could get behind but didn’t want to go too hard on their audience that you think evil was the only priority on their minds. To me, Slave To The Scythe has more in common with your acts like Motorhead, Hellripper, Midnight etc than your usual blackened thrash metal affairs. There’s oodles of energy bounded up in Demiser but it’s not released in one atomic blast; the band stagger the explosive capabilities their performance possesses and tease you here and there with what they’re capable of. It makes each succeeding track on record an event and ensures no one track becomes overly dominant in our memory, because that certainly is the case, balancing the record nicely with metal that’s competent but doesn’t try and shove it in your face with how competent it believes itself to be.
