THE UGLY, Diggin’ Graves  (2006, demo)

The skull:
This skull was apparently caught diggin’ graves and this is pic # 2 of his mug shot. “Turn to the side, please.” So the skull turns to the side and mocks the officer with an open-mouthed sneer. Asshole.

The music:
Overused Sample #2: “To know death, Otto, you have to fuck life…in the gall bladder!” (From 1973’s Flesh for Frankenstein.) Just like that overused “unleash hell” line from Gladiator, it’s a great sample, but has been overused by numerous bands who can’t be bothered to come up with something more original. Of course, sampling itself is borrowing someone else’s work, so how original can you expect them to be? (I’ll answer my own question: Very. Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique is a great example.) It should be no surprise, then, that this Swedish band are none too original, musically. It’s super-fast black metal in the vein of countrymen like Marduk, 1349, The Legion, et al., perhaps a bit more bottom-heavy and modern. But only slightly. It’s played very well too, but is incredibly redundant in the final analysis. What’s most interesting about this band is their imagery, not only this demo but their album cover of two years later, Slaves to the Decay. These look like offerings by some punk’n’roll band, or one of those Black Label Society wanna bes. But no, musically it’s seething Satanic speed and screechy vocals all the way. So give ’em a couple points for avoiding being totally stale.
— Friar Wagner