The history of European Death Metal has chapters that simply don’t need further argumentation. Such is the case with the Norwegian scene. The legacy of its bands is simply the very essence of the foundations of the underground. But while the whole world lost its mind over Black Metal in the nineties, many overlooked that bands like CADAVER were already perfecting a technical, suffocating and authentically visceral Death Metal. Darkness Shall Rise Productions has done a huge job releasing this compilation called “Demos & Live 1988-1991” on double CD and double cassette format. This release is the complete history of the demo era and gathers that primitive, cavernous material that the band was brewing in the late eighties. And of course, talking about CADAVER is also talking about Anders Odden, its founding member and main songwriter, who structured that sound that refused to be pigeonholed, taking speed to unthinkable limits for the time. What we have here is an extensive sonic x-ray of 33 tracks (completely remastered) that rescues on its first disc the rawness of their debut demo “Into The Outside” (1988), the heaviness of “Abnormal Deformity” (1989) and “Sunset At Dawn Live Sarpsborg 1989”. The transition throughout the second demo is a descent into their wildest performances. The live section on disc 2 is a huge highlight for me, following an order where we first find the live recording from Oslo, on September 28, 1990 (tracks 1 to 10), including that excellent opening of CARCASS’ ‘Reek Of Putrefaction’, which goes straight into ‘Petrified Eyes’ and closing exceptionally with the four songs from the “Unreleased Endless Session” of 1991. All this material continues the tradition of the genre masterfully, and the music perfectly reflects that decomposed smelling atmosphere of their early years. This compilation is undoubtedly an attack of primitive Death Metal that sounds raw, disturbing and deeply rooted in the old school. I like the structure, the track order and the way Darkness Shall Rise Productions conceived the release. It seems very logical and very smart to me. Tracks like ‘Maelstrom’, ‘Morgue Rifling’, ‘Den Tørre sangen Sangen’, ‘Cannibalistic Dissection’ and ‘Corrosive Delirium’ blow my mind and the whole “Unreleased Endless Session” (1991) with which disc 2 closes. There is not a single song there that doesn’t blow my mind. Death Metal of the highest level. Made for me. Thus, I cannot but rejoice that these bands that have contributed so much to the underground continue to be brought back. I have done nothing but enjoy this compilation and have a few beers celebrating it. CADAVER has delivered an essential piece that smells of pure underground devotion and death (like a cadaver). I don’t think there is much more to say: this is a work that puts us right back into the air breathed in the Norwegian Death Metal scene of the eighties and highlights the concordance and discrepancy with the rest of the Death Metal scenes in the world. Great compilation. More information here: www.facebook.com/cadavertheband, www.facebook.com/darknessshallriseproductions