Grotesque- Beyond the Black Gate demo

Considering that there has been a metal release on every list I've made so far, you may be surprised to learn that I'm not much of a death metal fan.  There are exceptions here and there of course: I'm a pretty huge fan of almost everything Carcass ever recorded and I also really dig some of the earlier stuff by Death, Autopsy, Obituary, and Incantation to name a few.  For the most part though, death metal has always just kind of bored me.  It's not that I haven't tried...I mean really, if I had a nickel for every time I've attempted to discover the supposed magic in Altars of Madness or Legion (highly touted classics of the genre by Morbid Angel and Deicide respectively), I'd have at least a few bucks... 

Yet, for some reason, when I learned of Daniel Ekeroth's book Swedish Death Metal, which covers the evolution of death metal in Sweden during the late eighties and early nineties from a barely extant sub-genre to a cultural phenomenon, I had to have it.  I reasoned to myself that this book might be the thing that finally helps me really understand death metal's intended appeal; the fact that I've been a fan of Swedish metal gods At the Gates for almost ten years didn't hurt either.  In the end however, let's just say that while the book was an interesting read, most of the music I followed up on didn't impress me much.  Again there were some exceptions; I immediately took to early records by bands like Grave and Liers in Wait for example, but the crown jewel of my Swedish death metal download spree was this three song demo released in 1989 by Gothenburg based band Grotesque (a band which actually featured future founding members of both At the Gates and Liers in Wait).

It doesn't take much to explain what excites me about this release: the first song on it is uniquely bizarre and probably the most psychedelic death metal song I've ever heard.  All the genre staples are present of course, as there is certainly no shortage of too fast drumming, growling vocals, or down-tuned guitar; but it's the way that these elements are put together that makes the song truly amazing.  The drums seem to be in their own world most of the time, speeding up and slowing down regardless of what the other instruments are doing; the bass plugs away at some strange slide riff while the guitars float tunelessly above it all sounding at times more like distant sirens than what they actually are; over it all, some creep growls in a way I've heard and been unimpressed by a thousand times before, though hearing it over this type of weirdly insane cacophony is definitely new.

The other two songs on the demo are okay I suppose, but neither one comes close to the inspired lunacy of the first.  Similarly, when I followed up on more music by Grotesque, it was also unfortunately just mediocre.

So then, before you ask, yes, I am recommending this band and this recording on the basis of just one really good song.  Maybe you think that's dumb?  Well, listen to the fucking song, then get back be me.  Get it here.