Hmmm... this is some strange black/death metal from Portugal. The core of the band is a duo, here receiving help from a few friends on guitar and drum programming. The music is generally fast and precise, with a recording that's on the line between raw and crisp. I guess the style is sort of like the Angelcorpse school of death metal mixed with the atmosphere and slight melodic sense of black metal. Vocally it gets especially strange as the sneering vocals have some sort of effect over them that makes them have an odd digital sort of ring. The biggest problem though is the recording, namely the drum machines. The programming is actually very strong, but the drum machine sounds far too rigid, and it's mixed way, way, way too loud. The percussion cuts through the mix like a knife through warm butter and drowns out most of the other details. Vocals and guitars are still evident, with bass resting in the distance, but a lot of clarity is lost as a result. The layout is pretty simple, using lots of images of soldiers and warfare, all in black and white, with two small pictures of the core band members and some brief recording information. No lyrics or anything like that are included. All of the packaging was printed off of a home computer but the quality is very good and not a setback, and I like the band logo as well. It's really simple but it's effective - they've got a good visual presence. It's a shame, these songs could be very good, but a better recording is essential. I would highly recommend a live drummer, but if they have to make do with a drum machine at the very least they need to achieve denser tones and mix the programming back behind a solid wall of guitars, bass, and vocals. Tightening up the performance would also help, as in "A Call for Retaliation" there are several points where the guitars are playing out of time with the rigid tempos of the drum machine. This is a very hard demo to review, because not only is it brief and lacking in variety, but the recording makes it so hard to gauge the real details of the songwriting and such. I don't know...
[self-released]
Running time - 11:13, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: Hate]
Tormentvm - http://tormentvm.home.sapo.pt
