Demented Ted
Promises Impure

This album has been treated unfairly: I myself only learned of its existence by dumb luck, but I guarantee you that it deserves a lot of attention. We are faced with a band that I could, without fear, compare (not equate, to be clear) to Chuck Schuldiner's Death; I am not referring to the early, raw Death, but to those sacred Metal monsters from "Human" and "Individual Thought Patterns."

I know many of you will wrinkle your noses reading this, but I assure you that I am a great appreciator and champion of Death and I would never have dared to make such a bold comparison. Clearly, the guitarist does not have the technical skills of the late Chuck (despite many reprises of his solos), but compositionally, these guys do just fine.

The bass lines are very reminiscent of those in the aforementioned "Human," which should say a lot about how distinct and wonderful they are. The drummer deserves a special mention: I believe he particularly would have deserved a lot of recognition. Although the tempos never exceed in speed, this drummer shows great skill and inventiveness, executing countertimes and passages worthy of praise.

Beautiful songs flow one after the other, leaving precise marks and evoking emotions that a band of this musical genre rarely manages to bring out. Overall, the offering is that of Progressive Death Metal: the vocalist proves to be a good growler and, together with his companions, they put together a work that I recommend: it is certainly not a product based on violence and anger, and this might keep away those looking for a very aggressive sound. But frontal assault was not among the objectives of this band, which, with this unique work dating back to 1994, ends its career.

Let at least this album have, posthumously, the success it deserves; seek it out.