Rating: 7.0

Country: Poland

Release Date: 2006

Record Label: Self Released

Track list:
1.Killed and Rotten [mp3]
2.Death by Burning
3.Weak
4.Forever with You
5.Falling (In Love with a Piece of Smoked Pork)

Band Website: Uziel

Uziel - Long Perished Rebels

Sebastian Bartek- Bass/Vocals
Lukasz Schubert - Guitar
Piotr Kulesza - Guitar
Dariusz Bugla - Keyboard

Well, this was a nice surprise… a Polish band which isn't ripping off Behemoth ;) Actually, that's not 100% accurate, because this 5-track demo (which clocks in at a very healthy 25 minutes) often conjures up similarities to Behemoth's underrated “transition album” 'Pandemonic Incantations', as well as some of the slower material from 'Satanica'. There's also a vaguely Finnish feel in the use of tinkly lead synth, but overall this is melodic death metal with balls. That means similarities to the aforementioned late 90s output from Behemoth, The Chasm and Intestine Baalism, to name a few.

There's still a couple of weaknesses here though. The main one is that Uziel has so far been unable to recruit a human drummer, and while the drum programming here is quite solid, it's still obviously a bit thin and simplistic to properly complement the excellent musicianship on offer. The synth, often a bone of contention with me, is here mostly used as an atmospheric tool, providing an undercurrent of melody as opposed to taking over the soundstage, which is a quality that brings bands like Nocturnus and Samael to mind. Meanwhile, both guitar and bass have a very thick, well orchestrated sound, balanced well to allow both instruments plenty of space in the mix. Vocals are mostly buried growls, designed more to complement the music rather than drown it out (a refreshing change in this age of overloud vocals).

There also seems to be an odd undercurrent of humour, considering that the bizarrely-titled final track begins with a slowed down recital of a passage from Little Red Riding Hood of all things. Every other track begins with a long movie sample (either from Elizabeth or Unforgiven) which seems a bit excessive. Maybe one or two samples would be a welcome addition, but putting them at the start of every song is Mortician's job, and becomes a bit tiresome. It's not a big problem on this demo, but on a full length it would get really old, really fast.

Overall, Uziel has some serious potential and this demo showcases it quite effectively. Another plus is the excellent CD-rom file containing plenty of biography information and even their first demo in mp3 format, which is an excellent addition for those of us who don't have time or bandwidth to load a hugely detailed website. This is well worth tracking down for fans of well played death metal with a bit of personality and prominent melody, without ever descending into a “Gothenburg” level of cheese. I just hope they'll find a proper drummer before the next release, because that would really give the sound an extra push from good to great.

September 27th, 2006