This album was originally released back in 1992 by Drowned Productions, but Xtreem Music recently re-released this album together with the band’s demo (“Unholy Domain”), so many of us can now catch a listen and hear what this long lost Finnish Death brigade have in store for us. I know digress, but isn’t it funny how many Finnish bands are currently re-releasing their back catalogues – BELIAL DEMILICH, BARATHRUM (as far as I know) and now DEMIGOD?! The unfortunate thing is that I really don’t see the point in this album being reissued, since it is neither an innovative nor a cult classic.

This album can almost be mistaken for any latter era MALEVOLENT CREATION/CANNIBAL CORPSE album, with its crunchy riffs, generic Death growls and plenty of speedy passages. I guess that you can probably decide whether this band is for you based solely on that comparison. During some songs there are also some understated Black Metal-ish touches, as well as some occasional technical tomfoolery.

For some reason this album just really didn’t impress me that much – it is all competently played with a fair amount of energy, but after a couple of listens al, the tracks will just meld into another and become indiscernible. Death Metal can be a great style but because of its inherent (as far as the more meat & potatoes DM bands go anyway…) stagnant qualities, it can also be a very tiresome. With innovators of the genre, past and present, like NILE, GORGUTS, CRYPTOPSY and CYNIC (RIP) pushing the envelope, this band will inevitably just pale in comparison.

I know that this album isn’t suppose to be revolutionary, but I just can’t help but feel unmoved by it, even after repeated listens. It will be somewhat enjoyable if you just put it on as background music and even though it might cause the occasional headbang it is important to keep in mind that DEMIGOD are merely genre followers, not genre leaders. (Online March 29, 2006)