DEMONICA – Demonstrous

After being long active with King Diamond on Mercyful Fate and his Heavy Metal gamble of Force Of Evil, which is currently on hold, and being one of Denmark’s top Heavy Metal men, Rene Krolmark a.k.a. Hank Shermann, made his first Thrash Metal attempt by introducing Demonica. In addition to Klaus Hyrs (who was active on various Danish Metal acts in his career), the local beast talent at the vocals, Sherman brought over three American Thrashers to make this band a union of skilled Thrash maniacs of American and Danish origin. This is the plate where Bay Area Thrash meets European Heavy/Thrash, old school at its best.

So who are those Americans? We have here the lead guitar of the comeback Thrashers Forbidden, Craig Locicero, his peer in the band, drummer Mark Hernandez and the veteran bassist from the ongoing band Corruption, Marc Grabowski. Alongside their Danish partners, and with a contract deal with Massacre Records, Demonica released its debut Thrash blast piece, Demonstrous.

Under a tough production by Dave Otero in Flatline Studios, Demonstrous’s modern sound delivers the message of the old school with several additions made by Hank Shermann on his glory days on Mercyful Fate. Think about the sound as the modern heavier or tougher version of the productions of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond’s later albums.

Shermann and Locicero delivered a showdown of riffs. Locicero is an expert of the Bay Area stuff so the riffs are according to the American code whereas Shermann, as a veteran Danish Heavy Metal artist follows his American partner’s lead while displaying his own touch of masterful heavy riffs mixed with Thrash. Furthermore, near the end of the release, Demonica steps out a bit of its Thrashy icon that leads them as the rhythms begin to show various types of mystifying melodies. Those sound practically like the later Mercyful Fate music of albums such as Into The Unknown, 9 and Dead Again.

Besides the sharp handling of the guitars, Hyrs brings on a versatile vocal section, something between high pitchers to raspy low tones, Hernandez is unmerciful on the drumming and the solid bass thumping is bound to Grabowski. In summary, Demonstrous chops and kills like any other modern Thrash album. However, Demonica drives through the old school Thrash Metal pattern and they present one of the best US/EU confrontations made. With ample addition to make it more interesting, Demonstrous is a fine beginning to, with hope, a long lasting career.

Highlights: “Palace Of Glass”, “Demon Class”, “Alien Six”, “Fast And Furious”, “Summoned”, “Ghost Hunt” and “Astronomica”