An underground brutal death metal demo grail finally unearthed after 25 years rotting! Hailing from Wisconsin in the shadow of the Milwaukee Metal Fest, Embalm formed in 1995 while in high school in the era of Ablated Records, Frozen Dawn CD compilations and IllNoiz Death Fest to name a few.
Embalm created truly memorable grooves of mid-paced, catchy, and brutal as hell Midwest Death Metal, also including the customary influence of Swedish Death Metal and even touches of Dissection style harmony, setting this demo apart from any forced retro nostalgia.
Despite staying local, Embalm was a part of a larger network and held their own supporting bands like Rotted, Internal Bleeding and Incantation. While this collection focuses on the masterwork and tragic final demo aptly titled ‘Prelude to Obscurity’, sicko freaks will be treated to the literally impossible to obtain first ‘Demo ’95’ as well, showing the most evil and grim basement necro recordings that, while primitive and cruel, still hold minimalistic memory of true underground demo cassette culture. Also included in a rare find are the two final live tracks that sadly never made it to the studio, written after ‘Prelude…’ and shows the band’s insane dual vocal/multi-lingual genius for darkness, slam and tortured leads.
Painstakingly remastered from original DAT and cassette tapes by Arthur Rizk the collection includes a massive time capsule booklet of flyers, ephemera, zine reviews, and live photos from the bygone glory days of TRUE brutal death metal! A guidepost for any new band looking for a glimpse of time tested ‘brutal stuff’. A first time co-release between two modern underground titans, 20 Buck Spin and Hospital Productions.
Listen: https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/prelude-to-obscurity