Over the last decade a lot of old cool demo compilation releases have been released (not bootleg ones included in this list), among others by bands such as AUTOPSY, MASSACRE, NIHILIST / ENTOMBED, PENTAGRAM (Chile), FATAL, DR. SHRINKER and VON, and some labels like Nuclear War Now! and Necroharmonic have done an excellent job in this department. But someday early this year you get a tiny envelope with one CD within, from a label called Tarot Productions, nothing special ’til I opened it and found a truly jewel. A lot of good memories came back, Death Metal was the word reigning, a lot of bands releasing cool demos (with cool logos and demo covers), some bands getting deals with labels like Earache, Peaceville, Roadrunner and Nuclear Blast (no one else was signing Death Metal bands, "major" labels just were signing some Thrash and Power bands), tons of xeroxed fanzines coming from everywhere, and the tape-trading was the tool to meet people around the world and spreading this disease called underground Metal (internet was just a word into the Universities’ halls and its laboratories) and thanks to tape-trading someday late 80s / early 90s I got a tape from an American friend with some recordings of bands from his area (Texas), some live recordings of Devastation, stuff from Rotting Corpse and both demo tapes from an unknown act called Morbid Scream. What? Another "Morbid" act (just remember Morbid Angel, Morbid (swe), Morbid Decapitation, Morbid Death, Morbid Darkness, etc. etc. etc), but I decided to give them a chance. After the first riffs of ‘The Coming Of War’ I couldn’t believe it, intricate riffs, great breaks, a vomitive vocals in the way of Kam "Tyrant" Lee, wow, this tape featured just two songs of an intense Death / Thrash Metal, highly influenced by Slayer, Possessed, Kreator, Celtic Frost some touches of Bay Area Thrash Metal and Massacre (us), then after a little break I listened to their second demo from 1989. The result was exactly the same, my neck broken and my head on the floor. So I got some live tracks from this same guy and asking him when they shall be signed, but nothing happened. The band disappeared as it came, darkness… Some day in the mid 90s when I got Absu’s second studio album I got a good surprise, they were covering ‘The Coming Of War’, keeping the same old days feeling, even better when I got Absu’s next record with an honoring version of ‘Morbid Scream’. So it was no surprise when I found out that Tarot Productions is run by Russ Givens… he talked with Jimi Bowman (founder Morbid Scream drummer) some time ago and granted him the rights to release this collection of war hymns, completed with 12 live tracks and 1 unreleased studio track, all taken from the original master tapes. The only stuff I miss on this release is more info, pics and stuff like this but the music replaces it. The label have plans to release a vinyl version and to release a similar compilation with other Texas’ underground Death Metal heroes, Divine Eve, I hope to see it soon, I can’t wait for it. Meanwhile, this album is a total must for the fans of old Death Metal. I hope to see more releases like this with obscure stuff from bands like Necrovore, Atomic Aggressor, Treblinka (an official release), Crematory (swe), Asphyx etc. www.tarotproductions.com