Demiricous - Two (Poverty)
Metal Blade
Modern Thrash Metal
12 songs (40:07)
Release year: 2007
http://www.demiricous.com/, Metal Blade
Reviewed by Dylan
(Slayer)(A few Hatebreed-ish breakdowns + sporadic blastbeats) / 12 tracks = Demiricous’ Two (Poverty). Really, it’s that formulaic. Like the band’s that have had the greatest influence on them, Demiricous is a band that plays straightforward thrash, with a few modern characteristics. Unfortunately, they fall straight into the trap that plagues many bands of this ilk, which is leaving originality and innovation in the dust for a one-dimensional, albeit aggressive songwriting style.

Two (Poverty) is my first encounter with this Indiana-based quartet, even though it is their second album on Metal Blade. Their overall sound fits the mold of modern thrash metal quite snuggly, with the obligatory hardcore-tinged breakdowns and shouts to round out the sound. Calling this band metalcore would be a mistake however, as they seem to have taken a much stronger influence from the likes of late Pantera and the aforementioned Slayer, rather than Hatebreed and their hardcore brethren. As one could expect, mixing those influences together makes for some slightly groovy, usually fast metal that is void of any sort of European melodic sensibility.

The record beings with Not Enough Road, which roars out of the gate with each band member firing away on all cylinders. Hopefully you’ll like Nate Olp’s Araya-esque shouts, the thick and simple riffs of Ben Parrish and Scott Wilson, and the way Dustin Boltjes switches back and forth between the traditional thrash beat, blastbeats, and mosh-destined breakdowns, because that’s all you’re going to get. With a CD this uniform in style, the first few tracks are the ones that matter the most, and Demiricous wisely placed the two strongest songs before the halfway mark. Knuckle Eye doesn’t really seem different from the other tracks on paper, but it posses a very catchy mid-paced groove in the chorus that just stuck with me for some reason. The track that immediately follows it is Leprosaic Belief, which is one of the finer examples of Slayer worshipping to be found on the album. The breakdown in this song has a really unexpected swinging groove to it, which works better than most would think.

Other than those two tracks, I can’t really pick another song from the album that sticks out. After Leprosaic Belief, all the riffs start to blend into one low-tuned tremolo picked blur, played at a virtually constant tempo. This is where I feel that the band’s main weakness lies; the lack of distinction and hook in their riffs. Improvement in this area could really bump this band up a few notches. As for Olp, his vocals maintain the same monotone shout throughout, which is common for most thrash and death metal bands, but it doesn’t posses that same sort of natural ability that vocalists like Tom Araya and Rob Dukes have. Out of all the band members, Boltjes’ drumming is the most interesting aspect of Demiricous’s sound, as he manages to throw in some interesting fills and blastbeats that seem to come out of the blue. As with almost every other aspect of the album, the musicianship comes off as solid, but far from noteworthy.

Of course, all hope is not lost for Demiricous. They can play their instruments, and have a relatively large label backing them. However, for them to rise above the level of C+ metal, they are going to have to add something to their songwriting formula to give their sound more distinction and longevity. As for now, Two is going to stay on my CD rack for an indefinite amount of time.
Killing Songs :
Knuckle Eye and Leprosaic Belief.
Dylan quoted 63 / 100
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