Simply titled 1, or Demo 1 as is listed inside, this tape by Sweden's Deafaid is a 6 song delve into death/black metal from the north. Another three piece band the highlight is certainly the guitar playing of Ulf B. who really showed a lot of talent. Also the vocalist for Deafaid, Ulf has a good range for death, from the screechy Hordesk black metal shrieks to a deeper growl that at times gets a bit of distortion thrown on it that is downright scary.
The bass playing by Dennis N. is lost about 50 percent of the time due to the mixing and quality of this tape. With a few exceptions, however, this is not too much of a loss. It would seem that Dennis is accepting a total time keeping position most of the time, but he does get a solo of his own once in awhile. If he would just incorporate that energy throughout the songs it would pay off greatly in the end.
David W. on the drums also jumps into strict time keeping mode throughout most of the songs. Yes he too has his moments of insanity, but these are too few. Not that David's or Dennis's talents are in question, because both break out on their own and display some incredible playing but these are slower points in the songs. It would be interesting to hear them apply these aspects in the middle of the songs as well.
As mentioned above, the quality of the tape is quite low, but it is in no way at an unlistenable point. In fact I've listened to it quite a bit and not just to do this review, but because overall it's excellent music. Even if the bass lines and drums don't get as insane as the new Zao album, it all blends together very nicely, and the outcome is some fine deathy metal.
The songs themselves are all great songs, from expressing surrender to God (I Am Your Servant), to the longing to join Him in heaven (Take Me Home), to laying on the line why Jesus died (Doomed and Nailed). There is certainly no arguing with their lyrics. Some of the english in places is a bit awkward, but it's really not that important or noticeable unless you're really studying the lyrics.
The insert is xeroxed but well laid out and the cover art is a great picture of the death of Jesus at Calvary. All things considered this is a good first effort by a young band. They do have sound files available on their homepage in various formats so go check them out for yourself.
6.5/10
