Murustrictus - Demo 2012 (Eternity)

Murustrictus' three song demo Eternity, though generic, offers some ingredients that fans of the black metal genre won't mind sinking their teeth into. The five man snooze crew from the United Kingdom emphasize what I don't need to hear at all any day. Though many times such as in opening track "Cycle of Eternity," the band resort to heard it before - don't need to hear it again black metal fast food, they also do offer some interesting melodic interplay. My gripe ends up being not with the genericness of the band but with the regurgitation of simple song structures and previously heard, but not altered melodies from earlier in the tracks. Often, the demo becomes predictable and bogged down in predetermination. Adding to the generic nature of the whole effort are black metal vocals that were hand picked off the shelf in a Wal-Mart aisle dedicated to crap nobody needs to hear again.

Production wise the demo is acceptable though at times flaws reveal themselves. Second track Purgatory is evidence of a poor mix which emphasizes a mediocre lead rather than the overall effect of the track. The resulting diminishment of dynamic between other instruments is hard to swallow, especially when said mediocre riff appears later in the song with an obvious trim adjustment towards the phrasing's big entry to create 'dynamic.' For some reason there is a gunshot or whip crack or butcher's knife on cutting board cue right before which appears twice in the track, once on the part's recurrence and another times when the whole segment is copied to another part later in the track. Though the percussion throughout the demo tends to be strong, last track "The Path Of Chaos," is evidence of either a lack of interest in the song, a lack of interest on the band to get a better performance or absolutely no time spent rehearsing. The kick is obviously not in time at moments and often lags behind, creating a pure essence of yeah, whatever guys.

Ultimately. I would pass this by. Even though I dig the artwork a lot - it really is a pretty excellent cover - it's not going to change the fact that Murustrictus' demo is oozing with some foul puss when it needs to be bleeding pure blood. It doesn't help that they let the puss dry and harden to the point where it needs to be removed by scraping it off the skin with a small razor. Every song is pockmarked with dried puss. Add to this disgusting metaphor of inconsistency-gone-awry the fact that the whole demo is so short it really doesn't warrant a purchase anyway. Eternity doesn't last long enough to really get a good feel for what the band is capable of and, unfortunately for Murustrictus, it becomes clear that this isn't going to be a demo that I will be sound-checking too often. There are some strong moments but who wants to watch a weightlifter who only works out one arm?