Demon King – Vesania

It’s been a few years since my journey into tech-death started and through most of that time, the one constant name was The Artisan Era, that one label that will release banger after banger, giving a new color of extremity and musical proficiency with every new release. So, at this point I’m not gonna act like there’s anything surprising for me here. It’s all about blast beats, unhuman vocals, omnipotent vibes and more technical wankery than anyone signed up for. Some may think it’s getting overdone, but just like the “Fast and Furious” franchise has earned its right to milk every cent they possibly can out of explosions, fast cars, hot girls, international espionage and above all else, “family”, so has The Artisan Era earned its right to go above and beyond in delivering the most absurd extreme metal releases one can possibly conceptualize. And I’m all for it, which is why today, we’re having a look at Demon King’s sophomore EP, “Vesania”.

Demon King’s debut was an instant dose of satisfaction for me. At only 17 minutes in duration, it was shorter than some bands will make a single song, but it was evil, fast, melodic, inspired and satisfying beyond belief. And I couldn’t get enough of it. And it seems neither could the band. Because after sitting through a couple of streams of “Vesania”, the only thought process that I can expect went behind this one is “Let’s do it again… but MORE”. What we have now is a faster, more ludicrous, more over-the-top, more cinematic, more dramatic and more demonic approach to the same compositional elements. It has blast beats again. It has shrieky blackened vocals again. It has a slappy, wobbly bass tone again. It has evil narrative atmospheric parts again. It has lengthy, melodic and technical solos again. And it puts it all into a hyperactive ensemble of explosive kvlt vibes. AGAIN‼

Demon King – Worshipping the Idols of the Insane

Why? Don’t know! Don’t care! Just roll with it and you won’t either! These guys just don’t take their time, and don’t mess around. From the beginning of the first track the full band jumps right in at full throttle. No need for an intro! Why alert the listeners about what’s to come? They’ll figure it out anyway. But regardless of how fun, absurd and seemingly out of nowhere this creative approach might be, the mature and detailed writing as well as the impeccable performance and sound quality just makes it all work. Turns out if you’re just that good at what you do, you can really get away with things. All the riffs are incredibly catchy. The drum performance stacks machine guns upon machine guns of blasting, cascading transitions, cleverly placed accents and inspired, brief pauses. The bass delivery is fluid and refined enough to satisfy the tech-death cliché, but at the same time, the more slappy edge in some of the moments makes it come across just a bit rude! And I mean that in the best way possible!

On top of this, when the guitar solos take off, it’s like you’re riding the Rainbow Road in Mario Kart… except Bowser is now Satan. The solos are not only insanely fast, but they’re melodic, epic and unpredictable. And the supporting instrumental sections are changing all the time too. Especially if you listen to the solo in ‘Ixion’s Torment’, it feels like he’s juggling three oranges and a banana on the back of a BMX bike while the driver is doing a triple backflip above the crater of an active volcano! And succeeding too. Don’t ask what that means, you’re not supposed to get it!

Demon King – And He Shut His Eyes In Anguish

The entire release is wrapped in a sense of looming evil, with a thin but creepy orchestral undertone creeping its way into the soundscape every now and then. And for certain brief moments, the madness will stop to make way for some clean atmospheric sections with menacing spoken word or ritualistic whispers, giving also more space for the bass to shine. But don’t be fooled, you won’t see one of those lasting for more than 17.38 seconds. The closing track, ‘The Gateway Vector’, is the only one that actually reduces the tempo slightly, reducing the tech-death effect and allowing for more of the dark, creepy, black metal elements to shine. Since it’s slower, it’s also longer, ‘cos we can’t risk reducing the total amount of notes per song! And it still has some parts where the drums go AK-47 again!

I honestly don’t understand why this band is the way it is! I don’t see any point as to why they thought the best approach to music is to push all their technical capabilities beyond any reasonable boundary, and then to make the music so epic and evil that you almost can’t believe it’s happening. It’s unbelievably impressive but also a bit cartoonish, which makes it feel fun rather than serious. But you know what the cool thing is? I don’t need to understand it. And if you do, you’re probably overthinking it. Just start that moshpit already!

Track List:

1. Worshipping the Idols of the Insane (04:42)
2. And He Shut His Eyes in Anguish (05:32)
3. Ixion’s Torment (05:17)
4. Bound to Madness (04:23)
5. The Gateway Vector (07:18)