The logo is so goddamn Entombed. The opening melody is so bloody Bolt Thrower that you'll think this is a lost recording from them...

Of course that is not the case here. Hedonist are (or were?) a death metal from Victoria, Canada, who sound like an amalgamation of Bolt Thrower, Asphyx and early Entombed. That's the simplest way to explain them and their debut demo 'Sepulchral Lacerations'. Yeah, that logo font... and the cover motif... and general design; they all should give a hint or two.

This is a real treat for any fan of old styled death metal in six songs that take almost 20 minutes to get through. It really does sound like early to mid 1990's (well, not totally as the production betrays it). It's brutal, it's evil, and it's heavy as fuck. Way fucking heavy! It's like a tank coming right at you and there's no way to evade it. Do you remember that feeling you got from listening to Bolt Thrower?!

Right on! So, tempo-wise this is about lots of mid to fast double kick drumming. No flashy blast beats or cymbal tricks needed when sounding like a fucking massive piece of metal made for destroying stuff! Add a pounding bass and pulverizing guitar in the mix and they achieved that destructive force. Hefty, to say the least, riffs among the melodies. Bolt Thrower lead guitar melodies, which are something like ominous and melancholic at the same time, as well as eerie horror vibes from Swedish school. The bass guitar is distorted to some extent, giving it a really dirty finish. I dug the internet like a true spy and found out that the band is fronted by a female vocalist/bassist, although you couldn't tell it by the voice. It's heavily reverbing growl, and I'm sure it's sometimes more than one vocal track happening.

While four out of six songs clock 3 minutes or less, there's surprisingly much happening in them. By this way, a listener is kept at alert and attracted. Tempo changes and great riffs, together with shifts in atmosphere are the major songwriting elements. This sounds very good, easily above general demo quality. Heavy, as mentioned (this cannot be overtly noticed), but also very well balanced and clear for rusty death metal.

This was unleashed over three years ago, and nothing new is in sight from the band. All the physical editions are more or less limited (Cassettes, vinyls, CDs), so be sure to grab this little gem if possible.

Reviewed by Lane
12/03/2024 21:02