MSN Entertainment premieres the first track off HEAD OF THE DEMON‘s self-titled debut album, released yesterday by THE AJNA OFFENSIVE. A mysterious Swedish entity comprising nameless members from known bands, HEAD OF THE DEMON‘s Head of the Demon debut is a sepulchral, doom-laden slab of occult black/death metal that’s Lovecraftian in intent and aims for the abyss. HEAD OF THE DEMON‘s „Phantasmagoria” can be heard in its entirety here: www.social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/headbang-blogpost.aspx?post=24970f52-fd3f-4ac0-9481-71eb3a51b92f
H.P. Lovecraft is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for those who play metal, and tributes to the great visionary of Providence have been countless. HEAD OF THE DEMON are ones who have seen the faces of the Great Old Ones, yet all but eschew the usual clichés based upon tentacles and unspeakable horrors. Their occult black/death metal is hypnotic and honed, played mainly on the rawness of riffs and chants that are repeated cyclically. Psychedelic vertigo is assured, and with it the stimulation of perceptions that open windows to mysterious parallel dimensions. The voice sounds like that of Tom Warrior mentally dissociated under acid, while the guitars constantly seek ways of expressive, original, yet oblique metal without foresaking metal altogether. The long ramblings of “Phantasmagoria” and “They Lie In Wait – Riding The Waste” creep ominously between proto-doom Black Sabbath-ian realms and the atmosphere of Mortuary Drape’s cenotaph, never fully enjoying one or the other. The key, however, is the ancient and mysterious sound of an organ, which gives additional character to such ritualistic music, making the result extremely gruesome. HEAD OF THE DEMON realize that in order to see the true horror and the unfathomable depths narrated by Lovecraft, you do not need to travel to the edge of the cosmos: just look in our own head…in the demon’s head.
Tracklisting for HEAD OF THE DEMON’s Head of the Demon
1) By Titan Hand (6:30)
2) The Lie In Wait – Riding The Waste (9:22)
3) Phantasmagoria (5:48)
4) The Man From Foreign Land (6:51)
5) The Key (6:22)
6) Fifth House Of The Mausoleum (8:18)
7) Wraith From The Unknown (7:54)