Shit – 19%
DanielG06, March 8th, 2023 (edited by rafazardly)
Any black metal purist will automatically put this demo, and Hellhammer in general, on a pedestal and claim that they were possibly the single biggest influence on the formation of the genre. At the same time, they’ll shudder at hearing the name “Venom”, saying they’re just a bad Motörhead. But Hellhammer are completely different of course… but not really. Hellhammer’s demos at least are all just a terrible attempt to copy Venom’s punk-infused metal, with the main differences being that the riffs are lame and the whole band lacks energy.
There’s no catchiness in the songwriting, and Warrior’s vocals sound like he started practicing the day before recording; somewhere between awkwardly delivering lines with a frail growl and not caring about how it sounds in the first place. Now the purpose of this style of music might be to not care anyway, but at least other first-wave bands had passion and made sure the music was morbid or fun. Death Fiend just waddles around for half an hour, not doing anything. The only thing that I’ll commend is the drums which are pretty tight and consistent, they’re just so far apart from the other instruments quality-wise.
Even if you only judge this demo by how true and evil it is instead of withholding any competency musically, these tracks aren’t even close to evil. Hell, most of them feature only major chord progressions that awkwardly transition and aren’t interesting at all. Hammerhead is one of the more laughable “metal” songs I’ve ever heard. This might not be the most apt adjective to use in a semi-serious review, but “goofy” is the most accurate description that comes to mind. With clashing bass and guitars that sound out of tune with each other and no sense of direction, any memorability is killed.
I think this is proof that it doesn’t take quality of any kind to be considered a pioneer of a genre as long as you release your shitty demo early enough, but this wasn’t groundbreaking for 1983. It’s punk rock / speed metal with lyrics influenced by bands that had already been around for a few years, and the terrible production is almost a direct copy of early Venom, from the bass being mixed louder than the guitar, to the layer of static over everything. If you want early black metal that sounds much more aggressive and sadistic, even more progressive in some cases, look for Sarcófago, Slaughter, Chakal and Vulcano. Death Fiend overall is mid-paced without much variety to the point of boredom, and seemingly little effort was put into making it.
rafazardly 