
Fans of the very brutal, early 90s Scandinavian Death Metal in general and bands like ABHORRENCE, DEMILICH, GRAVE, DEMIGOD, FUNEBRE, CREMATORY or TRAUMATIC in particular should definitely make sure to add the new album by American oldschool Deathers FUNEBRARUM to their shopping list as it perfectly recaptures the atmosphere and brutality of those acts. "The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams" takes you back in time, on a journey to the more glorious days of Death Metal, when bands were still promoting themselves through xeroxed flyers and cassette demos, spending ridiculous amounts of money on postage to get their name out worldwide. The following interview was originally planned with FUNEBRARUM’s vocalist Daryl Kahan, but due to lack of time, most parts of it got answered by guitarist Nick Orlando in the end (with Daryl adding a few answers here and there nevertheless). Read on and enjoy…
FUNEBRARUM was formed exactly ten years ago (in April 1999) by yourself, Daryl, and guitarist Nick Orlando and according to your bio both of you have been playing in various bands besides FUNEBRARUM already… So, could you tell us a bit more about those activities, like when exactly you two played with EVOKEN, FUNEREUS, ASMODEUS, PUTRIFACT, DISMA, CITIZENS ARREST, ABAZAGORATH and ASSUCK, if those bands still exist these days and why it didn’t work out with them for you?
Nick: "Well, I am Nick Orlando… so I will do my best with the bands that didn’t actually include me you’ve mentioned. I started playing originally in Putrifact back in 1990 / 91. I guess you could call them my first real band, even though they were never more than a basement band who put out one 7" in their entire history. Funereus was Evoken back in 1992 when we first formed. By 1993, we had already changed our name to Asmodeus. Then, we found out there was another band by that same name from Norway so in 1994 we became Evoken. Both sound nothing like modern-day Evoken. Daryl was in Citizens Arrest. They were a legendary NYC Hardcore / Punk band from the late 80s / early 90s. Very influential stuff. Abazagorath is both David & Daryl’s band currently along with FUNEBRARUM. They are one of the top USBM bands and also one of the oldest. He also toured with Assuck back in the 90s as their vocalist. DISMA is another band Daryl is in along with FUNEBRARUM drummer Shawn and ex Incantation guitarist Bill Venner. Heavy-duty Death Netal stuff. I think that explains it all."
The first FUNEBRARUM line-up also featured drummer Dario Derna, who used to be part of ABAZAGORATH and EVOKEN as well, so was FUNEBRARUM originally just a side-project for the three of you maybe?
Nick: "I think it’s unfortunate but most of FUNEBRARUM’s career has been in side project status. Dario did help out on the 1st demo but I don’t think I ever considered him to be a full time member of the band. I had known even then that his plans were to eventually move back to Seattle once he had finished college, which is on the west coast of the U.S. and about 3,000 miles away. When we started the band, I think we both wanted it to become full time, but other bands and busy schedules prevented that from happening… and then the whole drummer problem pretty much put us out of commision for 3-4 years."
In July 1999 you recorded 3 songs at Dungeon Studio that ended up becoming your debut demo "Triumphant Ascent": ‘The Depths Of Misery’, ‘Kingdom Of Suffering Souls’ and ‘Abandoned Gods’… Were those 3 songs the only tracks you had finished at the time or were they the ones you simply felt most confident about?
Nick: "At the time, they were the only songs we had completed. We had some other unfinished material compiled from the few years before that but it was just a bunch of riffs…not actual songs. Dungeon studios is not an actual recording studio. We recorded the drums live in a rehearsal room with me playing a scratch guitar track, then we did everything else either in Dario’s cramped dorm room or at Daryl & Dave’s house. It was all done on his portable 8 track recorder. We could’ve waited to get more songs completed, but with Dario leaving and with noone in NJ playing this type of music, we knew it would’ve been next to impossible to find a drummer and get the demo out."
Tell us a bit more about these songs and the demo in general… Were you satisfied how the demo turned out musically and soundwise? Did you send out many copies of it for promotion and was it officially on sale?
Nick: "I think we were all pretty satisfied at the end result soundwise-especially since you couldn’t get any more of a low budget recording then what we had churned out. Of course, musically it was primitive as hell but it was our first release and the first step in creating the FUNEBRARUM sound. I do still listen to it occasionally…and the crudeness and rawness still impresses me even now. Its got a sound that gnaws deep down into your bones…which is fucking great!!!!! It does seem like we were stuck in the mud, however, because most of the tempos seem a bit sluggish. As for the amount of copies, I doubt there are more than 50-100 or so out there. I’m not sure if it was ever officially on sale though. I think most of the copies that are circulationg out there were sent more for promotional purposes so it is pretty rare."
When exactly did David Wagner and Brian Jimenez join the band on bass and drums respectively and what happened to Dario? David was also part of ABAZAGORATH, wasn’t he? So, is FUNEBRARUM basically the Death Metal outlet of the members of ABAZAGORATH?
Nick: "I think of FUNEBRARUM as its own entity…not just a Death Metal side project of Abazagorath or Evoken members. It wasn’t meant to be that way when we formed the band even though that’s what it wound up being. Originally, when we recorded the 1st demo it was just me & Daryl. Dario, who was also in Evoken & Abazagorath at the time, was helping us out on drums just for the demo. He was already in 2 other bands plus going to college, so he really didn’t have the time to be in FUNEBRARUM full time. He moved back to Seattle shortly thereafter anyway. David Wagner joined up directly after we recorded the first demo (I played guitar & bass for the 1st demo). Yes, David was in Abazagorath too. Brian Jimenez joined a few months later, not too long before we recorded the 2nd demo in 2000."
In October / November 2000 you recorded your second demo "Tombs Of Sleeping Darkness"… this time at Off Stage Studios… Why didn’t you return to Dungeon Studio?
Nick: "Because Dungeon studios wasn’t actually a real, physical studio. We were actually rehearsing at Offstage and knew the engineer that worked in the recording studio. They were inexpensive and let us go way over the amount of time we actually paid for, which helped quite a bit. It was much easier to work with Ed (Kleyner) then try to find some other studio who would be tight with time and give us a shitty result anyway. Ed had already done a few heavier bands, so we felt he could handle our type of music. The last thing we wanted to have to deal with was an engineer who had no idea what death metal was. That road usually leads to alot of problems and disappointment."
The lyrics to ‘Adoration Of Abscessed Cadavers’ were written by former ABHORRENCE vocalist Jukka Kolehmainen… From what I recall you’re quite a big fan of ABHORRENCE, so how did you hook up with him and was it an honour for you working with him?
Daryl: "Jukka and I were in contact in 1999 or so when I asked him if he had any old lyrics he could sent us. Being the cool guy he is he sent a few lyrics including "Adoration…" which we used on our first album / MCD. I am still in touch with Jukka today. We chat online occassionally. He is a Dad now and still writes for a big Metal magazine in Finland. He is also a huge doom and psych fanatic. Nick and I have been listening to Abhorrence since we were teenagers. We still do but maybe not as much nowadays. The power never dies with bands like Abhorrence. One of the sickest bands ever to be unleashed upon mankind."
In July 2002 that particular demo ended up becoming your debut full length "Beneath The Columns Of Abandoned Gods", because New Jersey’s Necroharmonic Productions released a remixed and remastered version of it on CD… Did Roy (Fox – head of Necroharmonic Productions) convince you to do that because he believed in that demo so much or was the material intended to be an album release in the first place already anyway?
Nick: "Roy is a mutual friend of ours and really liked the material we had on the demo… so he decided that we should give it a proper release on his own label. Being that it would be too much to go in and completely record everything over again, he gave us a small budget to remix and remaster the songs so they would be good enough quality for an official release. I think that if Roy had not given us that extra push at the time, the band might’ve eventually folded. He really went out of his way yo support the band when we really needed it so he will always be well regarded in my book."
In 2008 it got re-released once again by Nuclear War Now! Productions… this time as two very special vinyl editions… The regular edition also features the tracks from 2003’s "Dormant Hallucination" 7"EP as a bonus, while the die hard edition furthermore comes up with a bonus record that features the 3 songs off your "Triumphant Ascent" demo plus a 2 song studio rehearsal (‘Tombs Of Sleeping Darkness’ and ‘Incineration Of Mortal Flesh’)… Tell us a bit more about these two releases. Who came up with all the featured extras? Were those vinyl editions limited in any way?
Daryl: "I designed and put together both versions of our LP for NWN. They did a great job with the printing and the extras (minus the cover alterations), besides that we are all very pleased with NWN and the result. I believe the "die-hard" edition was limited to 500 copies. The rehearsal tracks heard on the bonus LP were taken from an old tape. We will be featuring more remastered tracks from this session plus others on an exclusive CD release on Obliteration Records (Japan)."
What about that studio rehearsal? The songs never made it on any other official FUNEBRARUM release so far – how come?
Nick: "Actually, ‘Incineration Of Mortal Flesh’ is on the new album. I don’t think we have any other completed songs lying around at this point that have not seen the light of day on an official FUNEBRARUM release. Well… other than ‘Abandoned Gods’ from the 1st demo. We’ve done the whole ‘rehash songs for new releases’ thing one too many times already so from now on, releases will have all new material (unless there’s a cover track!)."
Shortly after the album’s release your drummer Brian left the band… what happened? Did you have any personal or musical differences or something? From what I understood this was a major setback for FUNEBRARUM, wasn’t it? Is it that difficult to find likeminded drummers in your area?
Nick: "Brian was a really cool guy… but he was very young and impatient at the time and thought we should’ve been touring and doing all this crazy shit already even though we only had one demo out at that point. I think he was a bit disillusioned with the whole underground band thing and didn’t quite realize that things were not going to explode overnight for the band. I also think that because we were all in other bands at the time, he felt we weren’t serious enough about FUNEBRARUM. Well obviously, that was not accurate. Then, he got into an argument with Daryl over something totally irrelevant and that was it. He was gone. We all had our other full-time bands, so I can understand his desire to move on to something more stable and permanent for himself. Of course, this is my opinion on what happened and I’m sure his take on it would be different. I still talk to him every now and then, and consider him a friend. I know he was in a couple of bands after FUNEBRARUM but i’m not sure he’s currently doing anything musically, which is a shame. I really had no problems with him other than the fact that his departure really left us crippled for a long time. Drummers are next to impossible to find in this area…and pretty much anywhere else for that matter. Finding any musician into this type of music is rare enough…let alone finding a drummer into it."
How did you finally hook up with session drummer Justin DeTorre in 2003 with whom you re-recorded 2 tracks from your debut album (‘Dormant Hallucination’ and ‘Adoration Of Abscessed Cadavers) for the "Dormant Hallucination" 7" EP on Midnight 666 Records… Did Wes’ idea to release this 7" have any input in getting the band back on track again? Why did you just re-record older material at the time? You also could’ve recorded ‘Tombs Of Sleeping Darkness’ and ‘Incineration Of Mortal Flesh’ properly instead…
Nick: "Daryl knew Justin from a previous collaboration in Daryl’s post Citizens Arrest band, Taste Of Fear. He briefly played drums for them back in 2003. I still think he was a (pagan) saviour for us and came out of nowhere to save the band from the brink of obscurity. I’m not sure what Wes’s motives at the time were, however I do know that he understood we were having some trouble keeping the band afloat without a drummer for so long. We wanted to capitalize on the small amount of momentum Roy gave us by releasing "Beneath The Columns…“ and keep the band name in active status and in people’s minds. However, the drummer thing really almost cost us getting a chance to record with Kam Lee’s band at the time…Cadaverizer. Unfortunately, they broke up before they could record. I don’t think we actually had any new material that was finished at the time, which is why we decided to re-record 2 older songs. It was kind of a lame thing to do, but we had been presented with a chance to record something and we wanted to get this release out there. Looking back, it probably would’ve been cool to get ‘Incineration Of Mortal Flesh’ in there somewhere."
The 7" turned out really impressive (a cool gatefold cover, impressive artwork by Dan Seagrave, some copies came as "glow in the dark" editions and it also featured a sticker), so I suppose the 1000 copies sold out in no time, right? Have you ever considered to re-release the material on CD sometime (as bonus tracks for some upcoming release, maybe along with your debut demo and studio rehearsal)?
Nick: "Yeah, the 7" came out killer… Midnight 666 did a great job with it. I think the Dan Seagrave artwork really made it stand out from the rest. We were really lucky to be able to use his work… it’s was just being in the right place at the right time! I’m pretty sure that it did sell out very quickly. People still want to buy copies off of me, but I sold all of mine long ago. I see it up on Ebay occasionally, and it doesn’t sell for insane prices so I don’t think the demand is that great to print another 1,000… at least to my knowledge. I think a compilation CD of both demos, the EP & any other rare good quality rehearsal tracks hidden in the closet of doom would be a great idea. Hopefully one of these days we can make it happen."
In 2005 you were finally able to complete the band’s line-up again… So, please tell us a bit about the background of your new drummer Shawn Eldritch and guitarist Matt Medeiros…
Nick: "Shawn joined the band first in 2005, and single-handedly brought life back into the long-dead & rotting corpse of FUNEBRARUM. Shawn was in a local Black / Death Metal band at the time called Abysmal Gates. Daryl was the one who originally got in touch with him and invited him to join the band. It really was an important moment in the history of the band as Shawn & Matt have really given us our modern edge to go along with the festering old-schoolness of the rest of us. Matt joined later that year and he is an excellent musician. He has a Floridian-type Death Metal band called Kalopsia that’s been his (rotted) baby for many years now. He was a big part of the step-up in song writing on the new album. He is a great (de)composer; and got the songs to sound really fluid and precise. He is a prefectionist and really made all of us play at an entirely new level. I’ll be honest with you though; as with any band out there we’ve had some troubles all being on the same page at times. Right now, Matt is the only one not part of FUNEBRARUM pt.2. However, we plan on having some discussions with him and eventually getting the line up back to full grinding power. We shall see…"
In April 2006 you returned to Off Stage Studios to record your part of "Conjuration Of The Sepulchral", a split CD with INTERMENT on Conqueror Of Thorns Records… Among others it features a re-recording of your old demo track ‘Kingdom Of Suffering Souls’ and two great cover songs by ABHORRENCE (‘Caught In A Vortex’) and GRAVE (‘Into The Grave’)… Tell us a bit more about this release in general and what made you choose those particular songs for it…
Nick: "I really enjoyed that release. After many years, we were an actual band with a complete line-up. Those were some good times! We had wanted to do a couple of covers to pay homage to our favorite bands, and it seemed like the split was the best time to do it. The only trouble was picking 2 of our favorite bands. It was very, very difficult. I think we should’ve done ‘All That Remains’ by Bolt Thrower too but there’s only so much room and I could say that for many other songs I feel we should’ve done as well. As for the originals, they were written by a full band and were the first songs that had actual contributions from people other than either Daryl or myself."
That split CD also has the original version of ‘Grave Reaper’ on it, a song which you re-recorded for your brand new album now… When did you write that and weren’t you satisfied with the original version or why did you go for another version now?
Nick: "’Grave Reaper’ was the first song the new line-up had written back in 2005. It was re-recorded because we think it’s a very strong song that would also fit perfectly on the new album… not because we thought the original version was unsatisfactory. I think the new album is a bit clearer production-wise; and there are certain factors that are more audible on the new version. This is a positive thing for me; although it could go either way depending on who you talk to."
What can you tell us about the label Conqueror Of Thorns, that released this split CD?
Nick: "Not much!! I didn’t really know too much about Conqueror Of Thorns as they were really new at the time. Daryl had already been in contact with the guys from INTERMENT and the whole idea for the split was already in place. I guess through normal correspondence, Daryl connected with the guy who runs the label and he showed serious interest in releasing it. I don’t know if the label is still in existence though… I haven’t really heard much about them lately or seen any of their releases."
Ever since FUNEBRARUM’s origin you already had the opportunity to share the stage with quite a lot of cool bands, such as MAYHEM, EVOKEN, MORTICIAN, EXHUMED, HATE ETERNAL, NUNSLAUGHTER, DEMILICH, DEAD INFECTION and MUCUPURULENT… Any shows that stood out because they were so incredibly good or bad maybe?
Nick: "There have been some great shows… even though we played most of them in the 1st year or so of our existence. The MAYHEM show was great; even though I gotta say the one thing I remember most was the song MAYHEM played that actually had what sounded to me like rapping. I will never forget that. That was a blow below the belt, indeed! The show we played in Queens, NY (with MORTICIAN I think) was awesome as well. The smoke machine was in full force and we were blasting away with crushing force and I couldn’t see 2 feet in front of me. It was a chaotic but brutal night indeed. All I remember is some dude banging his fist on the stage a bit too close to my beloved Boss HM-2. The worse show was the one where I got stuck in traffic in the Holland Tunnel. The old singer of Abazagorath was in the middle of a NYC street waving me down. He was like "dude, you’re late you guys are already on, go ahead & i’ll park your car“. So I ran in and got on stage in front of like 150 people who were utterly silent and watching my every move. We then got to play 1 ½ songs before we had to stop. Talk about bad nights!!! Very funny now, not so funny then."
Did you already have any label offers when you started recording your newest full length album "The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams" last year, or did you shop the finished product around after you were finished with the recordings?
Nick: "We shopped it around after we had finished the recording. I think a couple of labels knew about the band but weren’t sure if we were stable / active enough to sign. I think for those who do know, our troubled career has been pretty well documented. Besides, the last recording we had done was the "Dormant Hallucination" EP 4-5 years before that. So we wanted to have the recording ready before we got in touch with labels to show that we were still a band more than able to produce some seriously morbid fucking Death Metal!"
What made you try out Don Fury’s Cyclone Sound in Coney Island, NY for the album this time?
Nick: "Daryl had known Don Fury from way back in the 80s at the height of Don Fury’s career… when basically every NYHC band had Don doing their albums / demos / 7"es etc. I’m pretty sure that Daryl’s old band Citizens Arrest recorded with him a couple of times. So, we knew he had some serious exposure and experience in the heavier side of music. Of course, Death Metal is a whole different genre, but the idea was to have someone who had done some quality work and knew what they were doing in the studio. I think he did a great job whipping us into shape and getting the best performances out of each of us."
I was honestly quite suprised when I got the news that the band got picked up by Cyclone Empire Records from Germany… Tell us a bit more about how this deal came about and what made you sign with them?
Daryl: "Dave Wagner and I were negotiating with several labels when we were contacted by the guys at Cyclone Empire. After our first few discussions with them it became clear that Cyclone Empire would be the best choice for us. The also were very accommodating and flexible regarding the needs of the band. They are a professional label based in Germany who offer worldwide distribution, tour support and an excellent roster of bands we are now proud to join. FUNEBRARUM are working towards to more releases, shows and tours. In the works is new material for an 7" EP as well as a split 7" EP with WINTERWOLF (Finland), a brutal band featuring Antti and Corpse of DEMILICH. Both releases will be on Cyclone Empire."
What actually was the reason that you didn’t make it to the Party.San Festival overhere in Germany? From what I’ve read you had line-up problems at the time, is that right?
Nick: "Yes, there were some line-up problems going on at the time, but we also had the album recording and that really interfered with us being able to get tight enough to perform live. We had booked that show way in advance, not realizing that the studio time would eventually come about at nearly the same time of the show. In the end it was best that we didn’t play that show, because we certainly were not ready for it. It was really fucked up for all of us, but we feel that eventually we will get the chance to play some awesome gigs in Europe and the rest of the world."
By the time this interview gets published your fantastic new album "The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams" is already out, so what can you tell people about it? How does it differ from your previous works? In which department have you made the biggest improvements from your personal point of view?
Nick: "I think it’s by far the strongest material to date; as well as the best quality recording we’ve ever done. Older fans will find no nasty suprises here. It’s dark, morbid Death Metal and that is what people have come to expect from us. I think the material is much better arranged; the flow is more natural and it sounds like 7 cohesive songs. These are the areas I think we’ve improved the most at. The only noticible difference really, is the tempo. There are alot more blast beats, and the overall sound is much more aggressive and less plodding. That is due in part to having a top notch drummer who can blast with the best of them in your band. We still have some slow, atmospheric parts but not to the point of overdoing it. There’s much more of a balance now as opposed to the 1st album, which was like 80-85% slow / mid tempo."
Would you agree that there’s a stronger influence from the more brutal Swedish Death Metal of the late 80s / early 90s in your new material nowadays (even though your Finnish "roots" still shine through here and there as well… Manolis mentioned DEMIGOD’s "Slumber Of Sullen Eyes" eternal classic as a reference for example)…
Nick: "I think it really varies… even from song to song. We’ve always gotten the DEMIGOD references from the start and we all totally hail DEMIGOD as they are one of our biggest influences. I think it sounds a bit more Swedish because it’s not as sluggish or ‘doomy’ as our previous material… maybe a bit less plodding and more aggressive tempo-wise. We still have the doom parts, I just think this album is overall much faster. My influences are really from both sides equally. Then again, you could say we sound more like BOLT THROWER than anything else (I think along with GRAVE what we get compared to the most) and as we all know, they aren’t from Sweden or Finland."
I noticed that the band logo on each of your releases always gets changed a little… what is the reason for that?
Daryl: "I guess I am not done with it yet… consider it a work in progress. The logo featured on "The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams" is a mixture of all of our logos which is close to being finished."
You’re personally keeping yourself quite busy in the art department anyway, don’t you? I noticed that you have done a lot of layouts for Necroharmonic Productions already… So, do you do that for a living? Which releases have you all worked on so far?
Daryl: "Yes, I am quite busy these days designing for other bands as well as our own. I am a web developer / graphic designer by profession. In my freetime, I run my own art / web / design business called Eye Studio as well as a small record label called Morbid Wrath Records. Some of our releases include ETERNAL DARKNESS – "Total Darkness" CD, GOREMENT – "Darkness Of The Dead" CD, FUNEBRARUM – "Beneath The Columns Of Abandoned Gods" CD, ABAZAGORATH – "Sacraments Of The Final Atrocity" CD, MUCUPURULENT – "Sicko Baby And More Babes" CD etc… Roy / Necroharmonic and I have been collaborating for years and have some great projects in the works. We pride ourselves on providing underground Metal fans with only the highest quality releases… trendies beware!"
Why do you actually use art by Dan Seagrave, Chris Moyen or Christophe Spajdel, considering the fact that you’re a really talented artist yourself?
Daryl: "Thank you. The person who released our "Dormant Hallucination" 7" EP (Wes Blackwulf / Midnight Records) obtained the usage of Dan Seagrave’s painting for what was going to be a split between us and his band CADAVERIZER. We had nothing to do with choosing the artwork. CADAVERIZER broke up and Wes decided to go ahead with a full FUNEBRARUM 7" EP using the Seagrave cover. Chris Moyen was chosen as the artist for our split with INTERMENT because if anyone he could realize the vision we were looking for. This was done also to the present the CD as a collective conceptual project between the bands with artwork from a third "satanic" party."
I was a little confused when I read the following news recently: "Matt left the band, Nick moved to North Carolina, Dave joined EVOKEN, Daryl and Shawn have a new band with Bill Venner (ex-INCANTATION) called DISMA but FUNEBRARUM lives on…" Please tell us more about the current situation here and also some details about DISMA…
Nick: "Well, there were a lot of things that happened within FUNEBRARUM in a relatively short period of time. All of what you read on the Myspace page is correct. However, the state of the band as of right now has changed since that was posted. I did in fact move to North Carolina… Dave is in EVOKEN… Matt is at the moment not in the band… and Shawn & Daryl are in a new band called DISMA. We have recently decided that we want to keep things going with FUNEBRARUM, even though we are not in the more active stages of it just yet. Right now, we’re writing material and plotting out the next steps for FUNEBRARUM. So, don’t consider us dead just yet. DISMA would better be answered by Daryl. It is a new band with him, Shawn & a local guy named Bill Venner who had a short stint in INCANTATION way back in the day. Brutal Death Metal, of course!!"
Ok, I guess this should do it for now… if we missed out anything of importance here, feel free to add it now. Maybe you can end this feature by naming your 10 favorite demos and 10 favorite albums EVER… All the best and good luck for all your future activities!
Nick: "Mega hails to you Frank, for the awesome intie & support for FUNEBRARUM!!!! And hails to all the fans out there keeping true Death Metal alive!!!! Feel free to get in touch for FUNEBRARUM merchandise (LPs / CDs / patches) at my email address thergothon1@aol.com or visit the FUNEBRARUM website www.myspace.com/funebrarum for news on upcoming releases. Shit bro, I left a lot of shit off of these lists. It’s very, very hard to pick 10… but, I have so here ya go!!!! Top 10 albums: 1) Grave – "Into the Grave", 2) Bolt Thrower – "Realm Of Chaos", 3) Entombed – "Left Hand Path", 4) Repulsion – "Horrified", Morbid Angel – "Altars Of Madness", 6) Autopsy – "Severed Survival", 7) Carnage – "Dark Recollections", 8) Demigod – "Slumber Of Sullen Eyes", 9) Death – "Scream Bloody Gore" / "Leprosy" (tie), 10) Carcass – "Symphonies Of Sickness". Top 10 demos: 1) Crematory – "Wrath From The Unknown" / "The Exordium" (tie), 2) Grave – "Anatomia Corporis Humani", 3) Funebre – "Demo #2/90", 4) Demigod – "Unholy Domain", 5) Abhorrence – "Vulgar Necrology", 6) Gorement – "Human Relic", 7) Necrovore – "Demo 1987", 8) Macabre End – "Consumed By Darkness", 9) Entombed – "But Life Goes On", 10) Nihilist – "Only Shreds Remain"."
Frank Stöver