CoC : 7th Gate - The Funeral Delight : Review

7th Gate - _The Funeral Delight_
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (5 out of 5)

This is one of the best demos I've heard. Ever. Granted, the production isn't great. In fact, according to the liner notes, "[this] tape was done without: fuckin' effects..., fuckin' overdubs, fuckin' mastering, simply no studio, just live playing." And play they do. 7th Gate have created an interesting combination of brutal American-style death, with plenty of European-style melody, and the occasional grindcore vocal to boot. The musicianship is pretty tight, and the sound uncommonly clear for this type of recording. I'll admit that my first impressions were mixed. While the packaging is excellent for a DiY job, the song titles threw me off, particularly "Mutilation of a Pregnant Bitch", which sounded downright insipid. My first listen left me a bit flat, but it's upon repeated listenings that I grew to love this tape. It hasn't left the deck for a week. There's just so much cool stuff happening here, that it's worth hearing over and over again. The highlight of the demo, for me, has to be "Open Crypt" with its various tempo and texture changes as well as the almost trance-like state it induces. This comes highly recommended to those who love good grinding technical death metal. Hailing from Austria, these guys need all the encouragement they can get, so I urge everyone to contact them and get a copy of this wonderful release.

Contact: 7TH GATE, Rainer Zimmermann, Bergerweb 5

(article published 9/6/1996)