Amon: Feasting the Beast

After Deicide cemented their reputation with two of the definitive American death metal albums—1990’s Deicide and 1992’s Legion—Roadrunner Records released the demo tapes that had initially sparked their interested in the young Florida outfit. Recorded in 1987 and 1989, when Deicide were still known as Amon (after a medieval demon who was said to govern “40 infernal regions”), these songs emphasize the unruly intensity of their early years. The distorted vocal effects of “Sacrificial Suicide” and the untamed guitar solos of “Crucifixation” are just two signs of the looming influence that European and Scandinavian dark metal bands had on the impressionable young Americans. Many of these songs would be rerecorded for Deicide’s eponymous debut on Roadrunner, at which point the band was already moving their sound in a more distilled and groove-oriented direction. Fans tend to regard the later versions as superior, but you might have a different opinion after experiencing the blistering, punk-tinged renditions of “Day of Darkness” and “Oblivious to Nothing,” recorded in 1987, before anyone in the band had turned 20.