Introspectively, the demo tape has always been the first glimpse we see into any up and coming musicians’ futures, and for better or worse this first impression determines the potential success of that future. In a market where music is dissected, labeled and mass produced instead of merely listened to, the simple and sacred process of artists sharing their vision with the world has never been more influential. In the case of Belgium’s blackened thrash amalgamation Possession, we are privy to a return to roots effort that exacts its ferocity through an homage to a time when classification did not exist, and all that mattered was producing the most tangibly destructive effort possible.
Through incomprehensible cries of terror, blistering riffs and echoing climbs, Possession usher in a sound that is reminiscent of acts such as Archgoat, Bolt Thrower, Sarcófago, or Destruction, amongst others I’m sure you can conjure on your own. However, Possession is not tied into delivering something regurgitated from the past, but rather placing their own unique spin on revitalizing that evil, church-burning mystique that made those bands such a threat. Distinguishing themselves through the savage power they display within a 16 minute constraint, building and lapsing into a hate-infested oblivion-esque portrayal that is barely contained within any known listening apparatus. Combined with one of the most precise recording productions I’ve ever heard on a demo, the full magnitude of this band’s torrential onslaught is captured as it washes over each subsequent track as if consumed by a terrifying plague. The added bonus of the tape is the band’s crushing cover of Sepultura’s “Necromancer,” which is woven together just as magnificently as any of those who bore themselves before it.
Though some may perceive Possession’s debut as unremarked or gimmicky, mocking at the revived “Possession” moniker, the end product simply speaks for itself, without justification or remorse. The tape drops November 15th via Iron Bonehead Productions…Plus CD on Invictus Productions.
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