CoC : Phantasmagory - Odd Sounds : Review

Phantasmagory - _Odd Sounds_
by: Adrian Bromley (4 out of 5)

With much, much better sound quality than the two previous demos I had to sit through this issue (Deathguy and Effluvium), Ukraine's Phantasmagory are an impressive progressive death metal band. Tight, well-structured songs make up this seven-song release, a definite ear-pleaser to fans of technical death metal in the vein of Pestilence and Cynic. There are a lot of bands out there who make an effort to really shine and showcase their talent and Phantasmagory are one of those bands. Production here, especially for a demo, is top notch and the band really captured their best work. One thing that really impressed me about this demo from Phantasmagory is the variety that the seven-song demo offers: everything from technical death metal to thrash metal heaviness, heavy metal guitar solos and black metal-inspired screams. This demo is all over the place, but not in a bad way. Like the album title suggests, "odd sounds" indeed. I have heard a lot about this band over the years, having read numerous articles about them, and it's nice to finally put music to what I know about them. Easily the gem of my New Noise pile this issue.

Contact: Edward Miroshnichenko, P.O. Box 7488, 83062 Donetsk-62,

(article published 19/10/2001)