Demiricous
Two (Poverty)
5.8
Refreshingly, Demiricous don’t fuck around with intros of any kind; they slice at the throat straightaway on Two (Poverty). That sharp breath of fresh air proves to be a quick one, as Demiricous’ deathrash attack, helmed by bassist/vocalist Nate Olp, isn't exactly novel. Thing is, Olp happens to sound exactly like Tom Araya. Like, freakin’ exactly. At first, the “similarity” is kinda cute, as it’s been a while since a high-profile Slayer clone has surfaced. Ultimately, however, the shtick soon grows as tiresome as their nondescript riffage.
This American crew tosses some deathened inflection into their style of thrash metal, which is akin to the groove-centric swagger currently championed by Overkill and Exodus. Trouble is, Demiricous aren’t Overkill or Exodus, and despite their spirited intent, Ben Parrish and Scott Wilson aren’t going to be mistaken for Gary Holt any time soon (though they may attract some sidelong glances from Jeff Hanneman fans). The most infectious riffs on Two usually rear their heads on the back ends of their songs. These single-chord chug-a-longs are obviously designed to spill the blood of pit grommets across the nation, but simply wouldn’t have any legs to stand on without the exemplary drumming of Dustin Boltjes to back them up. Frankly, without Boltjes kicking the shit out of his war ensemble the way he does, this entire album would sound downright amateur, in spite of the high-end, chunktastic production.
Despite the professional presentation, there’s only so much mimicry a metal heart can take, even if it’s just in the name of good fun. By the time the fifth track rolls around, the hardening of the arteries starts to set in. The charm of Olp’s Slayerizations officially turns sour as he yelps “Language of Oblivi-onnnnnnnnnnnn!” with full Arayan schlock, and they officially cross the line from ‘fun’ to ‘shameless’. From there on out, the flaws start to expose themselves, piece by piece; an album that held potential as a mean, mindless moshfest aimed squarely at expendable youth wears out its welcome before its running time is completed.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some seriously thick caveman grooves do be found here (again, credit to Boltjes), especially on “Leposaic Belief”, which sounds like a pissed-off Scissorfight trying their hand at thrash. But with the recently reborn thrash epidemic, and the resulting glut of quality albums, one would have to be criminally insane to think Two even approaches aggressive perfection. I wouldn’t mind bashing my skull into the guardrail to a few of these songs if Demiricous happens to trot through my town, but in truth, there’s not a whole lot to sink your teeth into here. For a whip-smart death/thrash fix, I’d suggest looking towards Legion of the Damned’s Sons of the Jackal; the fact that Two is probably going to outsell that album only serves to prove that if there were a God, he truly does hate us all.
