Mastication

MASTICATION is yet another great band from the good, early Swedish death metal movement. The history of MASTICATION is unfortunately quite short as the band managed to get just two demos released and then split up; although all band members went to play in some other cult bands like EXCRUCIATE, COERCION and UNANIMATED.

“Mastication” was recorded in two days of April 1991 at SUNLIGHT Studio. It is quite weird, knowing now that Lars Levin became EXCRUCIATE vocalist after the decease of MASTICATION, but really I find the music of both bands as very similar. I mean the sound both bands had on their recordings was very alike – blame Skogsberg for that… But musically also both MASTICATION and EXCRUCIATE played in similar style, maybe the latter was bit more melodic, while the first seemed to be bit faster and more brutal, but as overall you may have a feeling of “déjà-vu” here and there. All that doesn’t really disturb me and honestly I like both bands much. This first MASTICATION demo is an example for well played, classic Swedish death metal and surely every maniac, who likes such stuff, must get these songs and give them a listen.

This material starts with a mournful intro, which lead us to song called “Freedom’s Death”. If there’s anything to say about it is that it’s so damn aggressive, sometimes really fast and energetic track that it makes all my guts to roll over, but it also contains plenty of slower parts, as well as few catchy melodies. It’s nothing outstanding, but verygood as always. “Unholy Wickedness” again is very dynamic and speedy; I’m almost surprised that MASTICATION music is so fast. It’s probably one of the most aggressive bands of that time from Sverige! It seems like these guys couldn’t stop themselves when they got the speed they have to carry on and blast their shit more and more, until they make sure everybody around is slaughtered. Sure, they always find time to put a nice, hooky melody or mid paced fragment, but so far both songs were speeding like a damn chainsaw in a hands of Leatherface… And “Material Massacre” is no different ha, ha! Again really strong track, with very good riffs and Lars Levin growling like a beast – I really love his voice!

But sadly the demo has just these three anthems, so the only thing left to do is to put your guts back and play it again! What else do I need? Probably more songs and to see this demo released on vinyl ha, ha!

Holy shit... What a demo! A buddy of mine copied this one for me a while back, and not knowing anything about the band I thought they were just a bunch of no-name guys. But later, I realized that Mastication featured members that went on to play for Excruciate, Unanimated and Grave! The demo was recorded at the one and only Sunlight Studios so you know the production is top notch. This could have easily been released on CD or vinyl and sold thousands of copies. I can't believe nobody ever signed these guys.

This self-titled demo from 1991 features three songs along with an intro and outro. Lars Levin's vocals are extremely throaty and dark beyond belief. The music itself is very dynamic, ranging from mid-paced thrash attacks to dissonant blasting sections and everything in between. After a serene, symphonic intro piece, "Freedom's Death" opens which is the longest song on the demo (close to 7:00). But fear not, there's not a single moment of boredom here! It starts off with some impressive double bass from Per Ekegren and a string of extremely memorably mid-paced riffs. There's also some brutal blasting present about mid-way through the song, and the vocalist even uses a processor to sing a couple lines towards the end. Those vocals don't sound bad at all, but it's good that they're brief because his natural voice is the one you really want to hear!

Next up is "Unholy Wickedness". This one is even heavier than the first. There's lots more double bass on this song and fewer blasting sections. Somewhere towards the end, there's a strange thrash riff played that sounds a lot like the one from Slayer's "Raining Blood". It's a little bit out of place, but the ghastly bass solo following it quickly takes your attention away as you continue banging your head with force. "Material Assassin" is the last song, and here the slaughter only continues... This is the fastest song on the demo and it just annihilates you with its heaviness and brutality. The fast blasting sections remind of the sheer aggression used by Uncanny on their demo tapes. There's a brief guitar solo towards the end as well. The tape ends with a chilling, ritualistic outro piece with faint, distorted vocals overtop.

So what else is left to say? Mastication fucking rules. This is heaviness. This is brutality. This is death metal.