Description

Black vinyl with two inserts and 6 bonus rehearsal tracks. Limited 350 copies

Before Necrodeath started to write immortal pages of the Italian extreme scene, Ghostrider created a sort of a starter for the influences and style. The thrash and the black metal weren’t already that well mixed together but we can always notice good points on this Mayhemic Destruction demo (1985). The line up was always the same one of the early Necrodeath, before the 1990 split and now prepare to enjoy maybe one of the darkest outputs in that genre in Italy at the time. “The Exorcist” opens this little but truly important demo with the sound of the bells and a spoken part over some echoing sounds by the keyboards. The vocals are dark and we can find traces of the very first black/thrash wave on the raspy tonality. When the instruments come, we can notice that the tempo is not fast and they point more on the creation of a good atmosphere of a graveyard at night. The guitars sound is not excellent and often is mixed with strange effects to create the gloomy passages. The bass is incredibly pounding behind the other instruments and, quite surprisingly, the instruments that lack the most here are the drums. The vocals and the bass are the two elements that command this demo and even when the tempo starts to increase we can notice it by the faster notes of the bass and the more pissed-off vocals. The influences of Black Sabbath are just massive here and undeniable. The heavy metal is primordially mixed to the speed metal and the doom. “Curse of the Valley Christi” shows a better recording for the drums, especially for the snare one. However, this fact deletes almost completely the already weak guitars sound. This song is definitely faster even if the riffs (the one of the less impulsive parts) are not complete in evolution. They are still in the heavy metal direction and the main darkness is once more for the fuzzy production and the raspy vocals. The refrain is even quite catchy and ritualistic in the way it’s done. “Victim Of Necromancy” features a decent drums intro to follow a faster direction. The riffs are this time more in Venom style and some parts are even embarrassing for how much they resemble to the ones by Cronos and Co. “Doomed to Serve the Devil” signs the return of the pure doom atmosphere. The bells and the excessive screams are massively bound to Hellhammer and the bass is again pulsing. When the riffs are more dynamic and faster, those influences grow incredibly. The punkish up tempo on the drums is an undeniable sign of this, as the vocals are always more black metal oriented. Once again, we can find the use of the echoing distortion on the guitars during the mid-paced sections to sustain those morbid and ritualistic atmospheres. Well, considering that in the same year Ghostrider would have changed name to Necrodeath and recorded the mythical Shining Pentagram, this demo is a bit raw yet but it shows some good points to work on. The burden of occultism was a very important base to start something truly personal. The speed and the sheer violence was not the best here but there would have been time for it, now it doesn’t count because the band is young and already promising in this way. If you like a morbid, occult and doomy approach to an embryonic black/heavy metal, this demo is for you but if you love speed, check the first Necrodeath releases out.

Track list:
1. The Exorcist
2. Curse Of Valle Christi
3. Victim Of Necromancy
4. Doomed To Serve The Devil
5. Countess Bathory-rehearsal 1984
6. The Exorcist-rehearsal 1984
7. Black Archangel-rehearsal 1984
8. Ride For Your Life-rehearsal 1984
9. Curse Of Valle Christi-rehearsal 1984
10. The Axeman-rehearsal 1984