Undead Creep is a Death Metal act from Italy that formed back in 2009 as a simple four piece. However, that same year the band formed, they wound up recording a five song demo, which they simply titled Undead Creepo. This five track release was a combination of one introductory instrumental and four brutalizing audio tracks that showed off how tight the band already was with the material, and eventually helped find the band a home with Dark Descent Records for their debut full-length The Ever-Burning Torch. Included on that album is this entire EP for free as bonus material. So, just how good a job does this band do on the demo to have been signed so quickly?
The production for Undead Creep is about what one would expect from a demo recording. The vocals are deep and intimidating, and the addition of a rhaspier, commanding vocal layer over deeper gutturals works out great for the intensity of some of the tracks, like "Final Demise". The transitions between each song does seem to suffer though, and the overall product feels rather raw with the instruments being a little more muffled then they should be. The guitars are heavy and definitely have that muddier feeling to them, which helps when the group incorporates a slight groove to the music, such as with "Ritual Slaughter" and it's heavily infectious and abreasive catchiness. The bass is strong in the recording, working in the band's favor, especially for the impressive guitar solos that are short but sweet through the demo recording, and the drums are a little more muffled then the rest of the instruments at times, but overall still work well and at least retain roughly the same quality as the rest of the music on here, adding to the general catchiness of some tracks, while aiding the intensity of others.
The demo starts off with "Darkest Slumber", a brief acoustic instrumental track that lasts a short forty one seconds, but it doesn't really do much for the release at all. No atmosphere is really established, espoecially not one for a Death Metal album as it sounds more like something one might hear on an early eighties Thrash album introductory track. Thankfully this introduction is short, as the next track, "Final Demise", slams right into gear with a pounding, fast paced Death Metal assault reminiscent of Swedish Death Meta; acts with a bit of a crushing Doom Metal approach to the track that appears about half way through the track, though not quite executed in a manner that would be considered Slam Death Metal.
From here, the album seems like a bit of a mixed bag of material. While "Ritual Slaughter" does have that slight groove to it like stated above, it's not necessarily what you would expect to hear from acts like Cannibal Corpse, but rather more along the lines of Dismember or even Hearse without the melodic elements of the latter. Sometimes you can even pick up a hint of Crossover Thrash or Punk influences into the mix, such as the song "Summoning the Abyss Lord". Of all the songs on this demo, this is perhaps the most entertaining due to it's more intimidating "in-your-face" sound and performance and the amount of energy given off from the track. The vocals feel a bit dull against it, unable to match the performance the band is giving off behind them, and the additional two-stepping done through the bass kicks sounds great. This track, however, does take a page out of the Slam Death Metal book as it heads into a well transitioned breakdown near the end of the track that feels more hypnotic then anything due to the pace it's going and the overlapping of gutturals that make it sound more like something in your psychotic little head then from the demo itself. All this builds to the demo basically ending the same way it began after the introductory track, following in the footsteps of "Final Demise" with the faster pace and overall intensity.
The demo itself is pretty strong, and it becomes obvious really quick that this band may have still been fresh and new at the time they recorded the demo, but the music they put out on this effort sounds like the band had existed for ages. The four songs on here are tight, though the introductory track really doesn't do much to set the tone of the demo, but the band shows off some various influences outside the more obvious Swedish Death Metal styles that made long lasting impressions on them for the foundation of this group. If you haven't heard Undead Creep yet, then it's well worth picking up this demo to experience it, especially now with it being free and part of their debut effort The Ever-Burning Torch. If you're looking for some crushing Death Metal, then keep your eye on this effort, the band, and make sure to check them out when you get the chance.
|
