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Gorement > Human Relic > Reviews
Gorement - Human Relic

Killer old Swedish death metal - 72%

robotniq, January 22nd, 2021

Gorement are best known for their melodic, doom-laden old school Swedish death metal sound (shown on "The Ending Quest"). Like most of these bands, they began as a simpler, crustier beast. Their first demo, "Human Relic" is as barbaric and intense as this style gets. Gorement took the baton from Nihilist and Carnage here. There are some slabs of early grindcore (i.e., Carcass and Xysma), some hardcore punk, and lashings of old school spookiness. This is a good demonstration of what the 'average' Swedish death metal band sounded like in 1991. Gorement don't stand out among the hundreds of bands playing this rancid style of music, but they still sound great.

This is a little darker and heavier than most bands in the style. There isn't much melody here, certainly not compared to the band's later material. The riffs swarm and buzz as you would expect. The drumming is good, this guy plays a mean double-kick, a tight blast, and he varies his beats up too. There are some of the usual death metal tropes, such as the bell-chimes on the first beat of the bar (on the title track). The most distinctive aspect of this demo is the harmoniser vocal effect used throughout. This was a common trick back in Swedish death metal. The bigger names used it sparingly; Entombed on "Premature Autopsy", Dismember on "Defective Decay", Grave on "For Your God". Gorement took things a step further by using it on the whole demo. These vocals sound ungodly and brutal, but lack the dexterity of 'real' death metal vocals. Maybe the vocalist (Mikael Bergström) wasn’t comfortable doing them without the effect?

The production, by a young Dan Swanö, is harsh and aggressive. This was recorded in 1991 and there was a formula to these productions by this point. Swanö had evidently learnt from Tomas Skogsberg. He manages to approximate the old Studio Sunlight sound whilst adding his own character. The guitar tone is similar to the usual Sunlight fuzz, I guess Gorement were using similar equipment (e.g., a Boss HM2 pedal). The sound on this demo might be more powerful than the average Sunlight fare. It sounds dirtier, thicker and meaner to my ears. Swanö also plays the obligatory spooky keyboard intro, he had a habit of doing this at this stage in his career. He certainly had an ear for the aesthetics of old school death metal.

If you like old Swedish death metal, bands like General Surgery, Carbonized, early Afflicted, then you will like “Human Relic”. This isn’t as subtle or skillful as Dismember and Nirvana 2002, let alone Entombed, but it pushes all the right buttons. Gorement were confident enough in this material to include two of these songs (“Darkness of the Dead" and "Human Relic") on their debut album. Obviously these demo versions are filthier and heavier. The band improved on this formula with their next demo ("Obsequies..."), which sounds much the same but doesn’t use the vocal effect. They’re both great, you won’t be disappointed with either of them.

The bloody beginnings - 84%

Drowned, January 5th, 2006

"Human Relic" is the debut demo from Nyköping's Gorement. When I first listened to this tape many moons ago, it sounded like typical gore/death metal to me and not something that would leave a lasting impression in the way that "Obsequies..." did. This was recorded at Gorysound Studios and not surprisingly sounds similar to other Swanö-related projects at the time, notably Masticate and Incision. The cheesy processed vocals and buzzy guitars are what really give it away. The worst thing about the vocals is that they are way too high in the mix and frequently override the other instruments, causing volume level discrepancies. In addition, the highs on the drums sound synthetic and noisy, while the bass drum and snare have a very similar tone to them and at times it's almost impossible to tell them apart.

Once you learn to accept the faulty production, this demo has a way of opening up to the listener and displaying that it has more to offer than just second-rate gore. The music is always what matters the most, and this is where Gorement shines. The three songs here, while fairly basic in structure and sloppily performed, are definitely precursors to the band's future material. The memorable, melodic leads and heavy tremolo riffing give everything that special touch that places Gorement in the front lines of Swedish death metal.

The first two songs are similar to each other, mainly played at a quick tempo and offering an endless supply of catchy guitar riffs. The only gripe I have is that both of these tracks end very abruptly and aren't given the opportunity to fully develop in the process. This is most evident with the brief title track, which was actually later re-recorded for Gorement's full-length album. The final song, "Moulder Within", has a more suitable length but unfortunately the guitarwork here is much sloppier compared to the other compositions. The music itself is reminiscent of Carnage, comprised of traditional-sounding, mid-tempo riffing along with simple fast thrash beats from the drummer. There's a pretty cool Possessed-style guitar solo towards the end, and an acoustic accompaniment that allows the song to fade to a close.

The toughest part about "Human Relic" is getting past the production and vocals. If you're easily irritated by processed singing then I wouldn't recommend this to you, but if it's something you don't mind and are already of a fan of Gorement's other material then I'd advise you to check this demo out.