Mounds of frightened eyes and flesh “transcended” from watery corpulence to petrified jerky in an instant, their mouths are still hanging gnarled and agape as their shields made of arms still greet the nuclear sunrise that’d toasted and tanned ’em without more than a squeak of screaming hysteria. Wrenched from the maw of graveyard trampling, crypt enjoying dungeoneers by way of Vancouver, British Colombia death metal trio Incinerous this debut demo tape speaks to the eternal darkness beyond death, a realization one can only hope to get a glimpse of before their lights are stomped out. ‘Contorted Epiphany‘ is a demo proper, a fully formed and readied set of memorable death metal songs which kick up some extra stenching dust by way of light crust inspired crawls from acceptance of nuclear doom to belligerent escalation of violence. They’ve still got a ways to go, a sound to flesh out and develop but the blueprint here has already proven their whole deal is energetic, riff-forward and just tuneful enough to leave a dent.

Incinerous technically released the original version of this self-recorded demo tape digitally back in March of this year but with slightly different song titles and no album art, this release has effectively replaced that version and so far I’ve had no luck poking around for any real differences between the two releases beyond two song titles being changed, the addition of fine album art from Adam Kindred, and mastering from Will Killingsworth (Dead Air Studios). Though it’ll confuse some folks in the long run in terms of what came first and what stayed the same this is ultimately a much, much better foot forward in terms of presenting a clear sense of their gig as a modern yet ‘old school’ minded death metal crew who’re green in some respects but fully capable when it comes to the music. ‘Contorted Epiphany‘ manages a completely pro set of five crust-heated songs which’ve got a handful of solid riffs to throw around and a bit of much needed metalpunk fire flowing through their action.

At ~18 minutes and five songs there isn’t a ton to dig into here beyond a few notes on style since this is a demo in the nowadays sense where “demonstration” amounts to an independently released mLP. Opener “Heolstor” whips in, kicks the gas and bulldozes through with an energizing start before grinding gears into mid-paced death metal stomp before grinding back in. This manages to be a fast-motion blur into where the full listen will ultimately go, about three parts Scandinavian death metal grime and two parts extreme metalpunk; “Eternal Inferno” is probably the biggest grey area set between punkish death metal and what I’d consider an extreme crust punk leaning piece, though the main riff wouldn’t be too far out of place on a primitive Death tape. It offers a compelling point of ambiguity where Incinerous‘ hybridization leans away from the chunking Autopsy-esque bap of “Beg for Sanctuary” and takes on a bit of an early 2010’s Bombs of Hades level groove in its movements.

The equally simple and sinister guitar progressions of “Imbued Festering” likewise go there in the second half of the song but the opening moments maintain that early creeping, crawling Swedish death metal influence to some degree and this is as close as we get to a more rounded version of their oeuvre beyond the superior showing of “Into Obscurity” which I’d had to double check wasn’t a cover from a Stockholm area oddity circa 1992. The vocals on the last two pieces in particular have this hollow grunted scowl to them which not only suits the rush n’ crawl of both songs but adds to the sensation that this is a death metal band from folks who’ve some strong experience with crust old and new. Or, at least the guitarist features in Barren Soil if you’re looking for doubly short and grinding pieces which go head-on into death/crust rather than this death metal leaning style.

It is fairly rare these days that I hit play on some random-ass death metal demo tape and find any substance beyond the “sickest growl”, feigned primitivity or the phattest tin can kicking grooves, so, I’d been taken aback by the ride given here and felt the strike of real underground death metal sounds in the intent of this first release. Based on their aesthetic choices for this album and the sinister mid-paced verve of their crusted-at-the-edges pieces I see some real potential for Incinerous as long as they keep it with this level of riffcraft and whip up the pace on at least one piece per twenty minutes of song. A high recommendation.

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