Suppuration (Ukr) - Ecclesiastical Blasphemy

Suppuration were a Death Metal band from Ukraine who changed their style to Black Metal and name to Crystalline Darkness, and today, after another name change, are known as Nokturnal Mortum. Their demo Ecclesiastical Blasphemy was recorded and released in 1992.

Ecclesiastical Blasphemy starts off with a dark, ambient intro, which is a typical calm-before-the-storm approach used by a lot of bands. Although what comes next with track 2, titled "Come Out and Kill" doesn't hit you in the face with a force of a megaton explosion, but rather forms a dark overcast with heavy rain and hail pounding down on you. Suppuration played a rather dark, but sufficiently heavy style of Death Metal. The riffs are catchy and mid-paced, lack complexity and although amateurish, are cleverly written to invoke a sense of evil when coupled with the short and simple guitar "solos" (if you can call them that). The vocals are nothing remarkable, and typical Death Metal, but suit the music very well. The drumming is sloppy and sometimes out of sync with the rest of the instruments, but sloppiness is certainly the last priority of a demo listener. The bass is surprisingly very loud and perfect in the mix for a demo.

Low-res scan of the cover

At this point in their career, the band wasn't skilled enough when it came to instrumentation and playing, but their interesting songwriting is what makes this demo a good one. Despite keeping everything simple, Suppuration managed to churn out good riffs and create a remarkable atmosphere throughout the demo. A negative side to it is that it's scattered with interludes, which drops the actual song count from 7 to 3. If you're a listener who doesn't mind pointless interludes (or likes them), you'll like this release more than I did.

This release is highly recommended for Old School Death Metal fans. It's not unlike a lot of other demo-only or long forgotten bands, but it is something worth adding to your collection.