Today we have the privilege of premiering a full stream of the first demo tape from Norwegian death metal duo HIDEOUS DEATH, the elite-thrashing ‘Remnants of Archaic Evil‘. Ripping death in the eldest tradition, these four songs speak directly to those with great fealty to the true ancient ones of late 80’s death metal and the unwritten bloodlines shared by nascent death metal and speed metal. A hammer of cryptic sound captured within a tape-siphoned tomb, this first demo introduces their intent with an impressive, inarguably classic style in mind. But hey, don’t mind my blathering, we’re lucky enough to have interviewed the Archfiend for some insight. Scroll down to hit ‘Remnants of Archaic Evil‘ now, grab a tape before they’re gone, and check out the interview while you’re at it.

Invictus Productions will release ‘Remnants of Archaic Evil‘ on Cassette Tape and digital formats this Friday, October 1st. Find preorders HERE and Bandcamp HERE. Thanks goes to the band, their representation and record label for the opportunity to share this album early.

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You’ve teamed up with Invictus for this release and the tape itself looks murderous so, we can be assured there are riffs here and classic evil thrash/extreme metal spirit in hand. Does “death metal” sufficiently describe the intent put into these four songs? What set Hideous Death in motion to start?

Death metal, or death/thrash, is the most suitable way to describe our musick I would say. Though it’s more death metal anno ’87 than ’93 if you know what I mean. As such I am sure there are people who would not label us death metal given the evolution of the genre. But to me it’s death metal in its most primal sense. Which of course means that there’s a solid thrashing presence as well. Musically and lyrically the idea is to bring forth visions of darkness, bloodstained walls, black magick rites and archaic abominations. Everything death metal should be about as far as I am concerned, me being all reactionary and shit when it comes to metal in general.

What set Hideous Death in motion was that the drummer and mines other band (Nachash) wasn’t doing much at the time, and I had these songs written and it felt like the right time to do something else. The songs consists of riffs I’d had in my head for a while and during a very short time I recorded and arranged them with artificial drums in my ‘home studio’. I guess the master of the damnation fires demanded it. Things went relatively quickly after that. We started rehearsing the songs in January of this year and recorded the tape in May. And here we are.

Was the name Hideous Death taken from the second Morbid Angel tape (the live one)? I get the sense that you’ve tapped into the post-‘Hell Awaits’ side of 80’s death metal but aren’t necessarily looking to ape direct influence or one point of worship. Do bands like Poison (Germany) and Slaughter Lord factor into the ideal you have in mind, or mostly USDM?

That is entirely correct, the name does come from that Morbid Angel tape. As I have somewhat of an obsession with those early days of Morbid Angel. And it felt like an appropriate moniker that sums up the essence of the band. And since nobody had claimed that particular name before, it made the decision all the more easy. Possibly not the most original name some would say, and that may very well be, but that does not matter. You can never have enough death after all.

Having that said, we don’t aim at copying specific bands and songs either of course. As much as old Slayer, Morbid Angel, Possessed, etc, are the general influences, I don’t think Hideous Death sound like them either (hard to compete with the ancient masters anyways). We just try to create songs we would like to listen to ourselves and try to make ‘em as memorable as possible with a bit of their own identity. Poison (Ger) and Slaughter Lord are killer as well and could be mentioned as influences too, sure. Also, Necrovore, Nocturnus, Incubus and Mantas/Death, but I guess that’s not a big surprise either. So I guess there’s indeed a major old school US death/thrash influence on our sound more than anything else.

“Master of Damnation Fires” and the title track both feature strong guiding leads throughout, this reads to me as the sort of signature many bands developed making the transition from speed/thrash metal to death metal (Funeral Nation, etc.) are any of the members of Hideous Death active in speed metal bands?

We aren’t active in bands who could be considered as such (speed metal), but personally I certainly like some speed metal bands, so some influences might have come from there, even if more unintentional. I’m not a huge lead guitarist, though, so the leads are relatively simple and straight forward, but as long as they fit the songs I’m good. Perhaps next time around some more unhinged and chaotic leads will make their way into the songs.

Was ‘Remnants of Archaic Evil’ recorded live/simultaneously? The recording is clear, organic, or at least implies enough bleed that it sounds like a full band performance.

We recorded the tape in our rehearsal space. We recorded the drums first, as is usually the case, on a Tandberg tape deck, with a guitar scratch track. Then I recorded everything else in our reh. place as well. Everything on the tape was recorded in one take with no punching in or editing done, so to keep it feeling alive and organic. As such there are some small mistakes here and there, but that just adds to the appropriate vibe as far as I am concerned. I mixed it and then Marco S mastered it and gave it a bit more of a professional ‘sheen’, and made it more lethal sounding overall. I’m happy with how it came out in the end.

I hear a song like “Thundering Doom”, the way it fires off, and figure it would destroy live. Are you guys out to road test/tour these songs soon? Have you all started working on new material in the meantime?

I think all the tracks would work well in a live situation for sure. Presently it’s just the two of us so in order to play live we would need to assemble a live line-up with a 2nd guitarist and a bass player (who could possibly do the vox as well, as I’d rather focus solely on the guitar in a live setting to be honest). We don’t have an plans for that at this time though (or enough tracks), nor an idea of who we would ask, but never say never. Since the recording of the tape, I’ve written about three new tracks and have demoed parts of them at home, though, so the plan is to get something more recorded at one point.

As Nachash has resumed regular rehearsal activities with a plan of recording our 2nd LP next year, that’s what takes up most of our time band wise these days. Too much other shit on our plate to have regular Hideous Death rehearsals at this time, but hopefully I’ll get the drummer on board for that at a later stage ya know.

What is the best way fans can to support Hideous Death?

Buy the tape (and shirt). A bandcamp and facebook page will be made available soon too, so any relevant info should be posted there in due time. Otherwise, I’d suggest consulting Invictus’ various platforms on the web. A loud hail goes out to Coffin Slave Art, who made our logo, the artwork and layout of the tape and did a killer job in adding to the mood created by the musick. He really hit the nail on the head, as far as what I had in mind for with the visual presentation. Cheers to Invictus as well of course.

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Per the press release:

INVICTUS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present HIDEOUS DEATH’s striking debut demo, Remnants of Archaic Evil, on cassette tape format.

Hailing from Norway, HIDEOUS DEATH are a new entity with an old spirit – VERY old. True abominations of desolation, the band’s righteously raw attack harkens to eldritch ’80s sensibilities like Death, Slayer, Possessed, and very earliest Morbid Angel. Familiar, yes, but filthy and furious!

Formed at the beginning of 2021, HIDEOUS DEATH took shape when guitarist The Archfiend “put together a bunch of songs based on riffs I’d had in my head for for a while that didn’t fit me and [drummer] The Horrifier’s other band, during a few days of inspiration – a message from Hell, perhaps?” Indeed, and it bears the all-too-fitting title Remnants of Archaic Evil. The band’s first recording is short and sweet – four songs in 16 minutes – and while firmly in the rabid deathrash tradition, subtle sensations of epicness and especially a sense of melody, without sacrificing the requisite aggression, crop up and prove that HIDEOUS DEATH are well on their way to further slaying.

“Basically, creating songs that can stick in your head and that are straight-to-the point both musically, lyrically, and visually,” The Archfiend concludes. “Not ironically retro or ‘tongue in cheek,’ but a very genuine homage of sorts to something that has been a huge part of our lives for many years – underground metal.” Behold HIDEOUS DEATH’s Remnants of Archaic Evil!

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