Posted on by Monsoon River

Killers of Death – Demo

Killers of Death
Demo
1989 (no label)
Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA

Tom Alcorn – Guitar, vocals
Ric Snyder – Bass, vocals
Jeff Shields – Drums, vocals

  1. Desecration
  2. White Pawn
  3. The Blood Runs Free

Almost no information on this one. I would place this demo as late 80s or early 90s, due to it having thrash crossover leanings from that time period. In places it reminds me of bands like Nuclear Assault and DRI – lots of aggression and intensity, sometimes at the sake of clarity. I found online that the band has two other demos: Just a Matter of Time and The Blood Runs Free (both probably released in 1990). These three songs make up the first three songs on The Blood Runs Free in reverse order. I’m not sure if these are the same versions here or earlier versions, as I have not heard any other other demos. Would love to, of course.

Update: It seems that some members of the band have commented elsewhere, and this demo is really part of the 5-song The Blood Runs Free demo. That demo saw a CD release in 2004 (that is impossible to find). I think I also now know who played on this tape, even though I still need confirmation that I got the nicknames right.

Update 2: Thank  you to Ric for commenting here, so now I have the nicknames correct. Also, look at the comment below for some interesting news.

3 Replies to “Killers of Death – Demo”

  1. Matt, The fact that you reference bands like DRI and Nuclear Assault exonerates your reviews even more in my estimation. Thank you for doing your homework and for providing accurate reviews of these old and overlooked treasures. Blessings.

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    1. Thanks! That kind of music was hard to come by in Waco, TX growing up. But I had a neighborhood friend that I would skate with that could somehow track down stuff like that, and then would let me make a tape copy. Misfits, Dead Kennedys, DRI, Flotsam &Jetsam, Nuclear Assault, all kinds of cool stuff. This tape really doesn’t sound like Nuclear Assualt – maybe a tad DRI but not a whole lot – its just the aggression and attitude that reminds me of them.

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  2. Hi Matt, Pretty impressive that you have come up with this information. Tom (Alcorn) and I (Ric Snyder) had lunch today and were discussing our Killers of Death days. He mentioned there was some info online about us so I thought I would Duck Duck Go search and see what came up. The only thing I offer as a correction here is that Joel did not join the band until a little later and does not appear on any demos (he is on some videos). “Clean” is Jeff Shields our drummer, and Stick is Tom Alcorn. We never called him Stick that I recall, but somehow that’s what is listed here. Probably because he was stick thin and resembled a stick bug.

    Watch for some new releases of old material through Rottweiler Records. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rottweiler_Records – Grave Robbers label. Should be out soon.

    Thanks for giving a spot on you site.
    Ric

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