DAMNATORY
The Complete Disgoregraphy 1991-2003
(Memento Mori)
64:13min

From 1991 to 2003, Switzerland’s DAMNATORY managed to release three demos and two EPs, yet never managed to deliver a full-length album. Whether a determination to keep things pure and raw, or a missed opportunity for bigger things, we may never know. But thanks to label Memento Mori, fans and newcomers alike get to enjoy a compilation of all releases that may just fill that craving for a full album. 1993s EP "Docta Ignorantia" includes 4 tracks of raw, filthy Death Metal with fuzzy, buzzing guitars and slightly off-kilter growls that could use a little work but actually have a charm of their own. Featuring tracks ‘Docta Ignorantia (Intro) / Ubiquitous Antagonist’ with its ever-changing riffs and rhythms, ‘Perpetual Mental Immunity’ with its upbeat, moshpit-infused brand of chaos, ‘Entomoligical Disease’ with its swirling, aural devastation and ‘The Ogre (Part II)’ with its simplicity but glorious Death Metal angst, all fit nicely in the opening of this compilation. And then there’s 1991s "The Persistence Of Archaic Dogma In Contradiction To The Traceable Basis Of Subsistence By Church Wanders Into Theosophy Veils The Virtual Ulterior Motive Of Clergymen". If the title of the demo doesn’t get your attention, then maybe the title of the tracks will. ‘Introitus: Escalation Of Hermitage – Consequences Pauperize The Intellectual Property (Only Valid For Psychopaths?)’ introduces their first release as ‘A Rest-Cure On Sufferance… Cause Of Rigor Mortis Six Feet Under The Garden Of Death’ tramples everything in its morbid path. I’m almost disappointed in the titles of the next two tracks ‘Blackjack’ and Mad World’ which also aren’t the strongest tracks on the demo. The final tracks ‘A Patriotism Motive To Fight And Forsake Everything Beguiles Your Life Expectancy’ (pure Death Metal) and ‘Postludium: Suggestion’ (outro) round out the demo nicely. 1992s "Hyrbridized Deformity" begins with the title track full of chugging, thrashy guitars, cheap drumset pounding and guttural vocals. Another delivery of ‘Blackjack’ leads into ‘The Involuntary Donation Of An Organ (From Mortuary To Ossuary)’, another great song title. The track is a sludgy, muck-encrusted abomination that quickly leaps forward in a stampede of brutality. Their second demo from 1991, "In My Darkest Vision", contains two tracks; the first. ‘Unauthorized Interference’, a head-scratching non-Metal instrumental… and the second, ‘Embryonic Diary’, a back-to-form Death Metal miasmal headache-inducing (but in a good way) attack or terror. And finally, released a decade after their previous release, demo "The Second Side Of The Coin", begins with an intro of a tortured, screaming girl before erupting into a more matured band, with better production and confidence in ‘Obloquy (The Crime Of Immortality Vs. The Pressure Of Culture)’. The weird second intro then breaks into ‘Eugenic Breed: A Disposal Of Genetic Waste Rises The Prenatal Death Rate’ to end the compilation with a furious track that kicks major ass. The vocals are more intimidating, the guitars and drums are tighter and the song as a whole pulls no punches. It’s a shame DAMNATORY split up before delivering a full-length. But maybe it’s even more satisfying that they left us with a smattering of releases that weren’t defiled by any filler a full album might contain (and in case you didn’t know yet, vocalist Marco Gemmet created the Voices logo, that is still in use to this day, many years ago – Frank). For more information, check out www.memento-mori.es

David Simonton

David Simonton

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DAMNATORY - Promotion 2023 (Alfonso Perez)

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