Death / Doom Metal from the crypt! HROB is a quartet, formed in 2021 in Bratislava (Slovakia). This demo is their first release, so the first scream to the world for this Death / Doom Metallers. Since there is a lot of possible combinations of riffing, drumming and singing in the Death / Doom genre, in order to give you a first impression of the band, I would immediately state the type of style: the Death Metal component is pretty dominant, the singing is always done in a very deep and strong growl and the Doom Metal part is hearable in every song with a well placed touch. The overall atmosphere is very sulphur and old school and in the most classic old school tradition this was recorded in their rehearsal room. This is clearly hearable and might be a little confusing. In fact, at first, I wasn’t quite fain about the production but, listening after listening, I realized that the overall sound production is well matched with the songs structure. The riffs and the bass tracks are very well written and played, but maybe in the future I suggest to give the bass tracks a higher tone, since in a few moments they aren’t quite well hearable and this is such a pity. Since this is a demo – the first calling card for a brand new band, second only to the live shows that in this case are quite local – and since its length is not that long, I decided to analyze “Demo” track by track. It starts with an intro composed by a repeating chord surrounded by the sound of rain that, in my mind, could be a strange mix between the beginning of ‘Black Sabbath’ by BLACK SABBATH and the beginning of ‘Invisible Hate’ by WITCHFINDER GENERAL – this is the prelude for a great start. And, as imaginable, ‘Hrob’ is the possible manifesto for HROB’s genre since it’s a combination of various Death / Doom styles with growls, blast beats and then a calm slow down, all characterized by a multitude of riffs. The main riff remained in my mind for days just like it’ll be a song from an experienced band. ‘Blatové Noci’ is the doomiest song on the demo and begins with a sulphur proceed and than leaves the space to the Death side, that starts its work, although the overall atmosphere still remains very Doom. And then for the solo part – that is well performed – again the HROB grinding machine starts the engine. The overall song structure is the perfect desirable mix in a Death / Doom Metal release. I really enjoy the bass track in this song. The last track, ‘Údolie Hrôzy, is the well-defined conclusion to the demo, as it encloses all the styles recognizable in the other two songs. The most enjoyable thing about this demo is that the three tracks (if we don’t consider the intro) are quite different from each other. Of course this is just their first release, but the basis is very solid and, although they still can fix something, I hope to hear a full length in the near future. I suggest a listening to fans of Death / Doom Metal and Death Metal. HROB surely draw the foundation from ’90s precursors such as WINTER, ASPHYX, CIANIDE, MYTHIC and bring on the works of 00s heirs such as SPECTRAL VOICE and HOODED MENACE. I had the pleasure to hear this work on cassette and this gave a lot more atmosphere to my listening experience, so I suggest you to grab a copy too here: www.facebook.com/hrob.death or www.atomicvisionprods.blogspot.com