Dead Demons EP - Mortuus Daemonia

EP Review by; Jazmin

 

            Is it 2020 or is it 1979? Mortuus Daemonia, which literally translates to ‘dead demons’ in Latin, is the debut EP from the Yorkshire based hell raisers, you guessed it, Dead Demons. (Aren’t demons supposed to be dead anyway? Makes you question what would constitute as an alive demon…perhaps they’d be even more terrifying. There’s food for thought.) Having spent time fine-tuning their craftsmanship on the covers scene for a while, late 2019 finally saw the quartet come together to combine their talents to deliver a zealous 4-track EP.

 

            The vintage feel of the opener ‘Dead Demons’ follows in the tradition of Iron Maiden’s track ‘Iron Maiden’ from the album Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath’s track ‘Black Sabbath’ from their album Black Sabbath, perhaps hoping to create a self-fulfilling prophecy with the chance to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. The track has an unambiguously simplistic chorus making it easy for it to weasel it’s way past your ear holes and slip into your subconscious, only to find yourself humming it’s tune a week later whilst walking the dog in the park with the tracks melody on the tip of your tongue, fighting for the love of God to recall the title of that damn song.

 

            Overtones of Alice Cooper-style ghoulish lyrical commentary go hand in hand with the 70’s grainy production, feeling very ‘home-made in your mum’s basement’ with the cover art to match. Vocally the attention is instantly drawn to Mark Hale’s voice, eerily familiar to that of Marillion’s frontman Fish and causes you to doubt your well-seasoned hearing senses, adding to the EP’s old-school vibe.

 

            With promising beginnings at the first blast of the starting pistol, there are a few unnerving notes scattered throughout that Hale struggles to sustain, namely the end of each chorus in ‘Overload,’ as you discover yourself crossing your fingers, toes, and any other gangly limbs you may have in the hopes that he might be able to trooper on to find the end of the note.

 

            The lyrics aren’t anything that’ll change your life, stop the world from spinning, or sell out stadiums, but the clichés of sticking it to the man will always hold a dear place in our broken and blackened hearts. “Your boss screaming in your ear, some shit that you don’t wanna hear” on ‘Overload’ is the equivalent to Skid Row’s ‘Youth Gone Wild.’

 

            Despite being mixed and produced at Supanova Studios, the overall sound is skeletally hollow with Richard Towler’s bass protruding so much in the mix that it overpowers Chris Weatherall’s grand guitar solo on closing track ‘Dead Man Walking.’ Beneath the overwhelming thud of bass however, the meandering guitar still gleams with flair, the imagination running wild with the countless possibilities of sound if only the solos were granted the centre stage they deserve.

 

            There’s always room for improvement so with a sprinkling of refinement and a steroid-loaded injection to beef up their catalogue, the blueprints Dead Demons have laid out for their potentially prosperous future can come into fruition. For now though, the groundwork of Mortuus Daemonia will satiate our selfishly greedy need for nostalgia that we as a human race crave so profoundly.