Rating: 8.2

Country: Canada

Release Date: 2006

Track list:
1. Rise
2. Reviled
3. Praying Headless
4. Gutted [mp3]
5. Born Again Dead
6. Descend Dethrone
7. Messiah Despised [mp3]
8. Violating The Eviscerated
9. Christ-Whore

Band Website: Deamon

Deamon - Descend Dethrone

Corey Malone - Vocals, Rhythm, Lead Guitar
Ron McLean - Rhythm, Lead Guitar
Topon Das - Bass
Shawn Carrier - Drums, Backing Vocals

A couple of years back I was at again - rummaging the sale section of some online label. My curiosity often got the better of me so in order to negotiate that I decided that it would only be from the sale section that I would do the trying out. To be honest it wasn't a voluntary decision; I was forced to cut down on my blind, instinctive buying of expensive cds mainly because my mom thrashed me, and also because I went under severe depression every time my try-out cds turned out to be crappy. So as fate had it, it was in that sale section that my chameleon-like 360 degree swivelling eyes fell upon this band with a queer name - Deamon. Not Daemon or Demon, but Deamon. I threw my head back and laughed. By the time I was done with it I realised that I'd already bought Deamon's debut album ‘Synopsis of Sin'. I vividly remember the day when I first played that album, with grave apprehension and compressed spring-like tension. What followed is this: from somewhere inside my speakers, the destined-to-be-a-legend Deamon vocalist Cory Malone opened his mouth wide enough to fit a Hummer, and from it blew winds of such force that I was literally swept off my feet. I became air-borne. Within moments I was flying outside in this human caused hurricane, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon-style. Only two things hampered my grandiose flight: 1) Deamon's breakdowns, which fell on me like lashes from a whip the size of an anaconda and, 2) Elephant Brand water balloons thrown savagely at me by the jealous kids in the building. But in spite of that, this valiant Indian superhero kept flying outside and it was only after the cessation of the album that I crashed into a tree. It was on that historical branch I was hanging upside down from, that I made a vow to promote this underrated Canadian death metal band.

I'm a man who fulfils his vows. I waited for their sophomore album ‘Descend Dethrone' like a husband who waits for his baby to be born. And when it finally emerged, I snatched it and ran all the way home, brutally pushing and kicking people out of the way. Only when I tucked it safely in my cd player did I sit back letting out a sigh of relief. When ‘Descend Dethrone' first began I thought they were quarrelling. Subsequent spins however disproved that exciting theory of mine and made it apparent that it's essentially early Cryptopsy and mid-era Cannibal Corpse worship happening here, with Deamon taking turns to play only the best parts of those bands as well as adding some of their own. For this reason they can't be called outright clones like say Defacing of early Cryptopsy or Eradicate of the Corpsegrinder-era Cannibal Corpse, although their style revolves around those two bands. If Deamon are playing those jarring riffs of Cryptopsy then they are also playing the sly hooks of early Cannibal Corpse; if they doing that Cryptopsy twanging then they also having blasting paroxysms like Cannibal Corpse; if they toss in a squiggly lead of early Cryptopsy then they also follow it by the pulverising scream of Cannibal Corpse's Corpsegrinder. So basically, ‘Descend Dethrone' is like an intense, high-speed and sweaty game of ping-pong between Cryptopsy and Cannibal Corpse with the much abused and hollow ball of this game being your head.

The songs in the middle of ‘Descend Dethrone' are not only the high point of this album, but also my life. “Praying Headless” has malevolent fucking riffs derived from my favourite Cryptopsy album ‘Blasphemy Made Flesh' coupled with influences from ‘Vile' era Cannibal Corpse. That includes the infamous raspy scream of Corpsegrinder - on more than one occasion Cory Malone lets out that terrifying scream where within 2 km radius of my speakers every living creature, man and dog alike, pisses themselves out of sheer fright. In songs like "Gutted" and “Born Again Dead” Deamon have infused such catchy riffs and moshy breakdowns that its inherent groove flows through your body creating ripples on your skin, which would look like cellulite in motion. They are a slightly brootal in nature, especially the ones towards the end of the album. “Messiah Despised” is influenced by Cannibal Corpse's 'The Bleeding' along with 'Gallery of Suicide' and also Cryptopsy's ‘Whisper Supremacy' with the typical “car-choking” parts in the song. The acme of the song happens to be this beautiful lead which cries, "Oh Kunal, where were you all this time?" After listening to that I dropped down to my knees, hugged the speakers and said, "I'm here baby, please don't cry, I'm here now!" See their leads don't just come out like that. A special invitation needs to be given to them by all the other instruments. Then after they are fully convinced, they come out and strut their stuff in all their unabashed glory. The song culminates in a most remarkable fashion - a mind-numbing booming part where the bassist shows his true class. It feels like you're being smothered by a pillow and then being punched briskly on top of it. Goddamn great. The shortcomings of this album are that the quality of their songs are a tad inconsistent and as their influences are limited to mainly two bands, their music sounds a bit too derivative and linear.

Cory “Hurricane” Malone here doesn't open his mouth and blow unceasingly for over 35 minutes as he did on ‘Synopsis of Sin'. Thanks to Professor X and his Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, he has now tamed and mastered his mutant voice, which is similar to Corpsegrinder but is usually delivered like Lord Worm. Cory still has that body-blowing power, only now he uses it with restraint and manages it according to the situation. You know, like how the right timing and force is required to blow an ant off your table – if you blow desperately like an idiot then the ant will stand its ground but if you blow softly and intermittently and then follow it with a sudden huge blow, victory is yours. Topon Das the bassist is my homie, which makes him a genius as well. I don't remember the last time I heard such rad fucking bass playing in this genre. It's a real shame that he got replaced, by a girl that too. He'll always be welcome at my home though. Shawn Carrier's drumming reminds me of Cannibal Corpse's Paul Mazurkiewicz in his heydays, actually even better. What I can decipher from the banging of his sticks and the kicking of his legs is that he simply controls the band; the rest of the band is merely putting up with his tantrums. It is obvious that he and the drums are made for each other: like a ball and a bat, fries and ketchup, a penis and a vagina – dildos notwithstanding.

‘Descend Dethrone' is such an electrifying album that will make a dead man spring to life, not as a zombie but most likely as Michael Jackson. Wooo! It's an album by a band that is preordained to vanquish their overconfident and disillusioned mentors. Time to stop sucking cocks of big over-hyped bands, for ‘Descend Dethrone' by Deamon is infinitely better than ‘Once Was Not' by Cryptopsy and ‘Kill' by Cannibal Corpse. Even a deaf man will vouch for that.

August 17th, 2006