Coming straight out of the Netherlands is a very underrated and overlooked death metal band by the name of Pyathrosis. Their "Fields of Unceasing Death" demo is absolutely brilliant in every sense of the word. It came out in 1991 which was a pinnacle year for the entire death metal genre and as far as the Netherlands went, all eyes were on Aspyhx's debut record "The Rack" and Pestilence's "Testimony of the Ancients," but this five track demo is really the hidden gem of the time.
The first two songs on this record are a one-two punch of groovy, heavy and dirty death metal at it's absolute finest, crushing the listener with an onslaught of catchy midpaced riffs with the same intensity and fervor of those that could be found on Bolt Thrower's "Realm of Chaos" record. The title track clocks in at a just a little over seven minutes, but every second of this song is amazing and those seven minutes just fly by while the listener's neck writhes in utter pain at the pleasure of having headbanged like a wild animal for seven minutes straight.
After the first two songs are through, Pyathrosis speeds things up a bit with the song "Drowning Soul" that features the first glimpses of the band's use of the traditional death metal tremolos as opposed to the groovy perfection earlier on. The very low growls of the singer are also a highlight on this song as they are a bit more focused with the heavy powerchords backing them, making for a downright savage song. The final song on this demo, "Eradicated Evil" is the slowest song on this album and features some almost doomy chords that mix in perfectly with the continued midpaced mayhem that was seen at the beginning of the "Fields of Unceasing Death" demo.
This demo is the definition of a hidden gem and it's a shame that this band never released a full-length because it would have been phenomenal to see these guys play alongside their fellow countrymen in the legendary Asphyx. Oh well, at least this 24 minute demo exists and I can play over and over until my black heart is content.
Highlights
"Slithery Flesh"
"Fields of Unceasing Death"
"Wrecked Sacrament"
Final Rating
Masterpiece [9.0/10]
