This is the first demo/self-financed release that I’ve had the chance to listen to and review. Slaine is a Death Metal band out of Switzerland- a five-piece band to be exact. Despite having the moniker of a Death Metal band, Slaine routinely go out of the mold of typical Death Metal, with Sadus like bass/guitar fills, and the occasional semi-melodic guitar passage. This is quite impressive for a band that isn’t even signed yet, especially since Slaine do bring their own style and merits to the genre.

The demo consists of 5 tracks, with the last one being an instrumental. NON opens up with Everlasting, which does start with a somewhat uninteresting thrashy part, but once the double bass kicks in and the real riffs start, the song starts to demand your attention. Right away we can hear some very nice bass guitar work on Everlasting; how often can you say that about a Death Metal band? The sound and style of the bass playing reminds me a lot of Steve DiGiorgio's work in Sadus (as I eluded too), but perhaps a little less technical, but nevertheless still present- which by the way I’m a big fan of (audible bass guitar work that is). The song changes moods and tempos quite a bit, thus making it interesting, since overall the song is well written despite maybe one slight slip-up. The next song, Doodwegen, follows the same basic outline but tends to be even more technical with some very catchy and melodic bass/guitar parts, however, it still contains the more typical Death Metal style of Slaine, sprinkled with touches of originality and what I'm beginning to hear as the Slaine sound- not completely brutal, but not completely melodic. The remaining three tracks once again have the same idea, however, each song is interesting and different due to clever arrangements, and I must say that every chorus was memorable, with Soul's Recovery being the weakest track (but not weak as in a 'bad song'). The instrumental, simply titled Bonustrack, is also well done, but I would have preferred a regular song.

The production is solid for a self-financed release, the drums sound nice and real, the bass is audible, and the guitars have a good crunch, however, I could really see an improved sound with production from Metal Blade or Napalm records for example. Where I also think the band can improve on is with even better cohesiveness in the manner of song structure, and more cleverly placed bass or technical parts. It’s not that what Slaine has written and performed is bad- it’s more that I think that it could be even better. The vocals are somewhat different, but are still the normal Death Metal growl. They get kind of bland at times, but with a couple of vocal effects (most notably doubling) thrown in, but not overused, I think it could add a lot of oomph to the songs. Yes, the songs are enjoyable and there are some punishing sections and interesting parts, but Slaine do not quite have the “oomph” factor I look for in Death Metal. When it comes down to it though this is a very promising demo from Slaine and I really hope they release a full length on a good Death Metal label, because these guys could really go places.