Secular Deformity – For the Oppressed

Secular Deformity
For the Oppressed
1994 (no label)
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Don Grutzius – Vocals
Mark Boggs – Guitar
Jack Williams – Bass
Scott Boggs – Drums

1. I Strangle This Life
2. For the Oppressed
3. Save It!
4. 100% A.F.B.

Another demo from the Scene and Unseen Music Club. This band is a 90s nu-metal / hardcore band that kind of reminds me of Godfear with cleaner vocals. This is not the rapcore side of nu-metal – this is the earlier version that was more hardcore with trade-offs between shouted vocals and clean vocals, and even some grunge influences here and there. I know that this band also had a demo before this one in 1993 called Bent, but I don’t know much else about where they came from or went.

Dying Man – Dark Night of the Soul

Dying Man
Dark Night of the Soul
1998 100 Loud Records
Nicholasville, Kentucky, USA

Terry “Hollywood” Harbison – Vocals
Joe “Super Groove” Allen – Guitars
John “Give Me Some Feedback” Fields – Bass
Barry “The Wild Man” French – Drums

1. Desperate Man
2. Undertow
3. Dr. Frankenstein
4. Struggle
5. Ode to Epiphany
6. Never Again
7. Crawl
8. Arise and Walk

This one is a bit hard to pin down style-wise, but that is probably because of the era it was created in. By the late 90s, thrash and speed metal bands were struggling with identity in a changing music landscape, most famously captured in Metallica’s Load and Reload albums. Other bands like Testament stayed truer to metal roots longer, and that is what this reminds me of. A thrash band that went a little modern and a little power metal. But it still feels like it leans a lot towards thrash. You also hear slight nods to grunge and even nu metal like Godfear here and there. But a lot more cohesive in style than I am making it sound.

Face of Humanity – Demo

Face of Humanity
Demo
1997 (no label)
Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

1. Destruction
2. Strive
3. Pharisee
4. Feeding Off Of

Most people probably associate Face of Humanity with the 2000’s due to their 2001 ep As Darkness Whispers on Clenched Fist Records. They were kicking around back into almost the mid-90s, however. This demo being proof of that. They also made appearances on several complications as well. “Feeding Off Of” from this demo was on the Hardcore 101 compilation from M&M Records, while “Destruction” was on the Living is Our Example Volume 1 compilation from Rescue Records. The sound here is mid-90s hardcore, before it went to other “cores” like metalcore. A bit faster and more gruff vocals than your average hardcore band at the time, though. None of the songs on here appear to have been on their later ep.

Three Thirteen – Three Thirteen

Three Thirteen
Three Thirteen
1995 Fat People Records
Bedford, New Hampshire, USA

The Aggravator – Vocals
John Helmig – Guitar
Bryan – Vocals, Bass
KDP – Drums

Dave Edwards – Drums on “Revolution”

1. Breaking Point
2. Revolution

I have been looking for this one for a long time. Helpless Amounst Friends Volume 2 didn’t hit me as hard as Volume 1, but it was still filled with great songs. One of the top songs was “Breaking Point” by Three Thirteen. Many of us had hoped that they would release a full-length, but sadly they did not. In fact, this 2-song demo is all they left us with. That song reminded me somewhat of Everdown, and John Helmig of Everdown is listed as a member. Others might be as well, but it’s hard to tell. The second song is like their known song, but a bit slower. The members are not listed on the tape, but I assume they are the same for both songs – so I used the compilation credits above. But those could be wrong.

Steadfast – Demo

Steadfast
Demo 1997 Live in Studio
1997 (no label)
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

1. Internal Interrogation
2. Degradation
3. Suicide
4. Channeled

There have been many bands named Steadfast through the years – this is a hardcore thrash one from New Mexico. They are mainly hardcore, but there are many thrash, crossover, and even death metal influences on their sound as well. Many demos are live in the studio, so I’m not sure what makes this one different from other bands that just had to set up and do it all in one or a few takes. Not sure what happened to this band before or after this tape, though. Many of the bands in Albuquerque are connected, so I wonder if there is any connection to other bands from that area?

Missing Information: Who played on this demo?

Cast in Stone – Demo

Cast in Stone
Demo
1998 (no label)
Orange County, California, USA

1. Life on Trial
2. Your Choice
3. One Sided
4. End Times
5. Inside Knowledge

Cast in Stone was a Christian hardcore band that is also known as the starting place for other bands. Members of this band went on to form or join xDeathstarx, Sleeping Giant, and Bleeding Through. This demo reminds me of more mind-90s hardcore, with some thrash riffs and influences here and there. After this, they released the Life on Trial CD EP in 2000 and then a self-titled CD EP demo in 2001. They also had four songs on a three-way split with Torn in Two and Point of Recognition on Facedown Records called Now the Tables Have Turned in 2000.

Missing Information: Who played on this demo?

Cephas – Vent

Cephas
Vent
1997 (no label)
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

1. (Step)
2. (Narrow Minded)
3. (Speak to Me)
4. (Whatever Happened to Love?)

This appears to be the last Cephas demo (after 1996’s Tape) before members went on to form Task at Hand. The past tapes were hardcore/metalcore, but this tape appears to be hardcore/rapcore. I had to go back and listen to their last tape to make sure I didn’t review it wrong. But it seems they are going for a style change here. Especially with the third song – a ballad(?) with sung vocals. No songs titles came with the tape, so I took a guess above based on the most repeated words or phrase. But the shouted rapcore style gang vocals were hard to understand in the first song. Note that the YouTube video below has the song list from their 1995 tape Grace, but the video is the four songs listed above.

Missing Information: Who played on this? What are the song titles?

One Last Sin – CD Promo

One Last Sin
CD Promo
1998 (no label)
Fishkill, New York, USA

Mike Ferrara – Vocals
Dan Stevens – Guitar
John Brandow – Guitar
Jay Thurston – Bass
Joel Sheveck – Drums

1. Face of Neglect
2. Mercy

It may seem weird to release a promo for a CD on tape – but it happened a lot more than you might realize back in the 90s. But did this band actually release a CD after this, or were they making a joke about what all demos really were hoping to be in the 90s? After actually looking around online, it seems these two songs were released on several demos and releases by the band, including their full length When Guilt Reigns in 1999. Anyways, these are two songs of deathcore (death metal meets hardcore) that was gaining popularity in the late 1990s when the band existed.

Infinitia – The Infinite Militia (777)

Infinitia
The Infinite Militia (777)
1995 (no label)
Clinton Township, Michigan, USA

Phil – Vocals
Kyle – Guitar
Matt – Bass
Nigel – Drums

Side 1:

1. Voluntary Slavery
2. Strength
3. Broken Man
4. Power

Side 2:

1. Tomb of Shelter
2. You and I
3. Pull the Plank

Infinitia is a loud band that mixes everything from thrash to nu metal to hardcore in their sound. Alternating between sung vocals and scream vocals also gives them kind of a screamo vibe, but the scream vocals are also close to growls at times. But overall, the sit well within the hardcore realm like many early Tooth & Nail bands. But some songs just break out in straight out thrash riffage – so they appear to be connected to that scene as well. You can hear yourself below via the Scene and Unseen Music Club and tell me if I am right or wrong:

Cephas – Grace

Cephas
Grace
1995 (no label)
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

01) Born Again
02) Devastation
03) Grace
04) Seasons
05) Your Hate
06) Go Jesus

This appears to be the debut tape by Cephas, which followed up this tape with Tape in 1996. This is definitely more straight up hardcore than the nu metal that their follow-up started leaning towards (even though you can kind of hear that here and there). You also get show throwbacks here and there to early crossover thrash as well. All of these different touches makes it better to listen to – hardcore had grown a bit stale by the mid 90s in some parts of the scene. This one was also digitized and shared by the Scene and Unseen Music Club.