This Noise Is Ours: Furious Barking/Desmodus - Italian Thrash Relics Vol. 1

Saturday 2 July 2016

Furious Barking/Desmodus - Italian Thrash Relics Vol. 1

Tracklist:-

1. Furious Barking - ADM. Concilium

2. Furious Barking - W.W.M.O.D

3. Furious Barking - Neophyte Necessity

4. Furious Barking - Euthanasia

5. Furious Barking - Ipse Dixit

6. Furious Barking - Soldiers (Hill A136)

7. Desmodus - Domination

8. Desmodus - Human Wreck

9. Desmodus - See The Light

10. Desmodus - Everything Is Dying

2016 sees the start of a project from two Italian underground metal labels, Deathstorm Records and Rude Awakening Records. They're releasing a number of split cd's focusing on old bands from the Italian thrash metal scene. This first volume of Italian Thrash Relics brings together Furious Barking and Desmodus, Both bands formed in the late-80s - early-90s. Furious Barking released a few demos, as well an EP "De-Industrialized" (included on this split) and one full-length "Theory Of Diversity" in 2008, prior to laying down their instruments. Desmodus on the other hand were a lot quieter, only releasing the one demo "Human Wreck" (also included on this split) in 1992. In an time when metal is becoming increasingly rehashed and overcrowded, it's good to see people shining a light on underground oddities who contributed to the genre in it's earlier days.

Furious Barking’s side begins with instrumental track ADM. Concilium, which is a typically prog-laden intro. It’s no surprise that bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse exists nowadays when the Italian underground metal scene is very much built on progressive metal. As you expect, the original recording and productions values on Italian Thrash Relics are kept as they would have been when Furious Barking released De-Industrialized. W.W.M.O.D is a mix of blues/jazz-laden bass/guitar and crossover. Instrumental for the most part, it shows off their musicianship while the vocals benefit from the local accent, as opposed to faux-American. Neophyte Necessity is off-kilter, old-school and glorious fun. It even contains a slight nod to hardcore! The quality of the guitar work in De-Industrialized cannot be disputed. Even during slower songs like Euthanasia, it still stands out. Ipse Dixit is the second instrumental track on the EP and it again shows off their progressive song writing skills. Their side finishes with Soldiers (Hill A136) and an absolute barrage of melodic riffs. You can tell they came from a time when melody and song-craft were not dirty words in thrash. Copies of De-Industrialized are currently selling on Discogs in LP format for £25+, so this CD already seems like a great buy if you want check Furious Barking out. The second side of this split belongs to the even rarer Desmodus. They only released one demo and all four songs from it appear here. They take some influence from Slayer on opener Domination, which is faster and more straight-forward in thrash metal terms, but it’s still catchy as hell. The demo’s title-track contains a rumbling low-end, which adds real depth to their sound. Even with a less progressive edge, Desmodus manages to write five-minute plus songs that remain interesting and heavy. See The Light has a real frenetic pace and the organic drum sound is perfect for a band of this time. Closing with Everything Is Dying, Desmodus are at their grandest. Lets face it, you have to pretty confident in your ability when you put a near eight-minute song on your first demo! Thankfully, it’s more than worth the effort. Fast, off-kilter and just slightly off-the-wall. This CD is anything but formulaic though it may only appeal to those of you who are die-hard thrash fans. Both Furious Barking and Desmodus were both very unique in their own way and by pulling two of their early demos, Deathstorm and Rude Awakening Records have allowed their legacies to live on. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

You can stream two tracks by each band below:-

Furious Barking - Neophyte Necessity -