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Nocturnus > The Nocturnus Demos > Reviews
Nocturnus - The Nocturnus Demos

Before Satan Went into Space - 65%

Petrus_Steele, May 29th, 2019
Written based on this version: 2004, CD, Karmageddon Media

The Nocturnus Demos compiles the two demo releases known as self-titled and The Science of Horror respectively, before bringing forth the phenomenal and pioneering debut record that is The Key. The former features the first BC/AD version alongside three original songs: the title track (later re-recorded in After Birth, Mike Browning’s first reincarnation of the band), Unholy Fury, and The Entity. As for the latter, it features a newer and better version of BC/AD, as well as demo versions of Standing in Blood, Neolithic, and Undead Journey from The Key.

The BC/AD version from The Science of Horror, albeit raw with lacking audible keyboards, makes for a heavy-hitting song, in the process creating a darker atmosphere. Which, compared with the original version from 1987, the first version sounded nothing short of insufferable. Thankfully, Standing in Blood features better mixed keyboards, and they sound quite melodic as well, so that’s a plus. Overall, a powerful song. Quite honestly, if there ever was a “dark heavy metal” subgenre, it would have to be it. Neolithic progresses into a faster and more melodic song with choir-ish keyboards, same as Undead Journey, having some chorus-effected guitar.

Unfortunately, the entire self-titled demo is so badly mixed, it’s unbearable to listen with the current and the only exiting mix. They sound way too thrashy for my taste, anyway. Meanwhile, the entire The Science of Horror demo is pretty much perfect - and had I just revived that release, I would’ve rated it 100%, no question about it. I guarantee it will not disappoint you to enjoy the early glimpses of the band’s sound with the second demo. But if you also liked the self-titled demo, then I’d say rating this release 65% covers more than enough for the other four tracks. Not much to elaborate further than giving the stamp of a decent release.

Lost in space without a GPS - 40%

autothrall, June 6th, 2011

For a band that had initially manifest in such a storm of darkness, sparks and wonder as The Key, Nocturnus has sure gone limp throughout the remainder of their career, which at this point has borne the semblance of a shuddering light bulb suspended from the ceiling of some damp and forgotten basement. Their subsequent albums Thresholds and Eternal Tomb were decent, but really failed to expand the vision and momentum of that timeless debut, as if they were simply churning out the same repeated ideas like a taffy maker. Too many trips back to the well before the rain of inspiration, and the supply becomes rank and unpleasant to the taste.

Not too much of a surprise then, that in its death throes, the cult classic metal act is celebrated by a re-issue of demos, or previously unreleased fare that can turn someone a buck where said band's lack of productivity and creative shelf life are not sufficing. Enter The Nocturnus Demos, a repressing of the band's s/t Nocturnus demo (1987) and The Science of Horror (1988) which unfortunately doesn't have a hell of a lot to offer anyone familiar with The Key. Well, to be fair, the '87 demo has a handful of tracks that were abandoned to the past, but "B.C./A.D.", "Standing in Blood", "Undead Journey" and "Neolithic" are all meager representations of what they'd become on the superior, full-length journey, and "B.C./A.D." is presented here in two versions. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this fan package is hearing just how brutal the band was for the late 80s period, and in this was I was reminded of Deicide's collection Amon: Feasting the Beast. Otherwise, expect crude tape productions and Browning vocals that feel disheveled and shouted compared to the brute professionalism he displayed on The Key.

As for the stuff you hadn't heard, there's the messy namesake "Nocturnus" which filters a few half-decent riffs through a garbage song structure; the brooding slog of "Unholy Fury" which bears some similarity to Hellhammer with speed breaks; or the blackish, brackish waters of "The Entity", with some wildly woven leads and sadly forgettable rhythm riffs. All of these hail from the band's '87 demo, granted, so less polish is to be expected, but as the sole 'attraction' to this compilation that cannot be experienced outside of The Key, they come up very short. Had The Nocturnus Demos featured superior production (which I must admit, Amon: Feasting the Beast did in places), or some later odds & ends like the s/t EP from 1993, then its value would be greater, but really there's just no point to listening to this outside of base curiosity. A pity when there were (and remain) so many outer and inner spaces that this band had yet to explore.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The Nocturnus Demos - 75%

Harachte, April 27th, 2011

The name of Nocturnus definitely rings a bell with quite a few death/thrash fans. The band was founded by Mike Browning, known from his work with the early incarnation of Morbid Angel and after that drumming with Incubus, a great band which released only one demo before disbanding.

After the liquidation of said Incubus in 1987 Mike wanted a project of his own and started Nocturnus, a band that started to use keyboards on a regular basis by the time they released their second demo. In doing so Nocturnus differed from all other bands in de Tampa Bay region. After recording two demos the band signed a deal with Earache.

After releasing two critically acclaimed albums things went wrong. Browning was kicked out his own band which went into hiatus after releasing a single, reforming again to do the 'Ethereal Tomb' album but to no avail. After that the band split up for good.

Karmageddon Media (previously known as Hammerheart) released both the demos on CD in 2004. The first thing that struck me is that the demos were placed on the CD in reverse order, so one starts to listen to the second demo. A bit sloppy.

The first demo (‘Nocturnus’, 1987) consists mainly of four rudimentary, early Nocturnus tracks and because Vincent Crowley was a member of Nocturnus in those days, two of those songs (‘The Entity’ and ‘Unholy Fury’) were later used on the debut album of Acheron. The sound quality is what you can expect from any eighties underground band, all in all this first demo is not too impressive.

The second demo (‘The Science of Horror’) sounds like a lot more fun though. It was recorded in the autumn of 1988. It was recorded with Jon Oliva (Savatage) acting as engineer and this demo clearly shows the Nocturnus we all know because the band was recently joined by keyboard player Louis Panzer. All four tracks of this demo appeared later on the ‘The Key’ but I must say that the Jon Oliva’s backing vocals on ‘Neolithic’ are a lot more impressive than the version that later appeared on ‘The Key’. The same goes for the tempo in which the songs are played. ‘The Science of Horror’ sounds a lot heavier than ‘The Key'.

‘The Demos’ is a nice collectionable for all those people who want to hear something else for a change in general and especially for the perhaps still exisiting Nocturnus fans. Don’t expect superior sound quality though although it's not of great importance. The second demo easily stands out while the first one didn't leave much of an impression on me.

The Necro Demos - 80%

MushroomStamp, May 27th, 2009

Now here’s a treat for those who enjoyed The Key but hated certain aspects of the production. I think you know what I’m talking about – the synthesizer sounds were occasionally chosen in a bizarre fashion, and the thin Morrisound style of guitar recording left something to hope for as well. To use a mildly accurate analogy: if the first full-length was something like Beneath the Remains soundwise, then these two demos are the pummelling chaotic mess of Bestial Devastation and Schizophrenia – the latter featuring properly mixed horror choir sounds instead of loud “space harpsichords” à la The Key. There’s a fitting amount of Evil Reverb™ in the soundscape, and to my great enjoyment, the demo guitar sports a fuller sound that could be defined as something between Severed Survival, Hell Awaits, and the aforementioned Schizophrenia. Although things get muddy during the most frenetic passages (Browning never owned a drum kit that is suitable for recording), I find this collection a richer and more rewarding listening experience than the dry-humped debut album.

The only real drawback of this compilation would be that some of the good material that was later included on The Key is missing, such as my favourite “Lake of Fire”. On the other hand, also absent is the terrible instrument masturbation from the latter half of the album. Those songs that do appear here are well-performed, except for occasional kick drum lagging, and all the important elements of decent death metal are in place with no up-and-down-the-scale nonsense.

One marked difference with the album is that the tempo is often slower, but I would not consider that a flaw at all – there is so much to dissect in the riffs and structures that mere hyperspeed never becomes the main factor to drive these songs forward. In the case of “Standing in Blood”, the slowness actually turns into a benefit for the demo version: the slayeresque break right after the initial kick drum attack doesn’t have that much power on the album, yet here it packs a proper punch. A lesson in songwriting for modern death metal bands, perhaps? I’m afraid it will fall on deaf ears, but let’s not be too pessimistic.

As usual with demo compilations, the booklet features old photos, demo covers, lyrics, and a short biography along with a whole bunch of old reviews and gig posters. The packaging in general is nice, except for the ugly light blue colour they have chosen for the front cover. This CD is probably worth your money if you’re into death metal.

Some interesting stuff present here - 76%

Xpert74, April 8th, 2006

First off, I’d just like to point out that there’s a tracklisting error on the second demo. Tracks 7 and 8 are “Unholy Fury” and “The Entity” respectively on here. However on the original self-titled demo, The Entity came before Unholy Fury. It’s somewhat annoying that Karmageddon Media made an error like that. This release loses some points as a result (plus where’s the logic in placing the second demo before the first?).

Anyways, this contains both of Nocturnus’ two demos they made before getting signed by Earache and releasing their excellent debut, The Key. The music featured on here offers an insight into the early development of Nocturnus’ signature style. Nocturnus’ first demo from 1987 has some pretty low-fi sound quality, but such is to be expected from a demo. The production here sounds very… spacey, and echoey (which I know isn’t a word), and just very airy in a way. It’s muffled, but you can still hear the instruments clearly enough. One comparison would be R.A.V.A.G.E.’s On They Slay demo, although this demo isn’t quite as abrasive in sound quality. The musicianship sounds sloppy at points, though the bad sound quality is somewhat to blame. The songwriting is well-developed already at this stage. The band isn’t quite writing 8-minute epics yet, but the songs are pretty catchy, with some nice, inventive riffs thrown in. This can also be compared musically to bands like Necrovore, Slayer, and early Morbid Angel. The vocals are death growls that are both muffled and distorted, rendering the lyrics nearly impossible to decipher for the most part. This demo is completely free from the synthesizers and sci-fi atmosphere that would dominate Nocturnus’ later work. Overall, it is a pretty solid demo that helped Nocturnus get their start.

The band wouldn’t really latch onto their true identity until their second demo, however. This second demo, released in 1988, was called The Science Of Horror, and Louis Panzer is now present in the music. The band originally just planned to have him do a couple song intros, but after he joined in during their rehearsals, they all really enjoyed the new sound and made him a permanent member. The lyrics were still very Satanic in nature, but the music now had synthesizers, and the songwriting integrated the synths into the songs very tastefully. They played an important role in the songs while allowing the guitars room to breathe, and show off some killer riffs and solos too. The vocals are clearer than before and easier to understand, but still retain a harsh tone. For some reason though, the music on here sounds even more midpaced than on the last demo. There’re still some fast parts here, but the midpaced parts just sound somehow slower, and like the tape is lagging behind a bit. I suppose the band was trying to achieve a more atmospheric sound. Comparing these songs to how they would later sound on The Key is like comparing the songs on Metallica’s No Life ‘Til Leather to the final versions present on Kill ‘Em All, with how they would later become faster and more polished. This is also a solid demo, which while different enough from the self-titled demo, still sounds at the core like the same band. I can’t decide which demo I like more.

The liner notes in this release are well worth the read. Mike Browning offers a page-long summary of Nocturnus’ demo era, and also describes how he was unfairly ousted from the band that he himself had formed. There are also some old reviews of The Science Of Horror taken straight from fanzines of the time, and some rare group photos of the band, which are pretty interesting. It would’ve been nice to have the lyrics for Nocturnus’ first demo as well however, especially considering they’re harder to understand than the lyrics on the second demo. Overall the packaging is very good, with some very noteworthy inclusions such as the liner notes and fanzine reviews, but the lack of lyrics for the first demo and the already-mentioned tracklisting error drag this down somewhat.

Should you get this? I think it’s enjoyable on a musical level, plus it is pretty important as far as Death Metal history goes, but it isn’t exactly a good starting point for those getting into Nocturnus. I would suggest getting Thresholds or The Key first, as those two albums I feel really sum up what Nocturnus was all about as a band. This is better left to those who are already fans of the band, as I’m sure they would enjoy it more.