It’s incredible to think that Demonstealer is now approaching the veteran stage, but the Mumbai-based death metaller has been active at the forefront of Indian metal music since the late 1990s. His work with Demonic Resurrection and as a solo artist under the Demonstealer label has been of a consistent high quality over the years, with a unique blend of symphonic and orchestral alongside ferocious blast beats, heaving riffs and a combination of melodic and gruff vocals.
Personally, I like Sahil Makhija’s clean vocals better, but that’s just my preference. What’s instantly striking about his fourth album, The Propaganda Machine, is the relentless and yes, I think, at times overpowering machine-gun battery of the drums. He’s enrolled four drummers to deliver the explosive foundation, and whilst they do it with huge energy, the unrelenting delivery is both one of the most impressive yet also frustrating traits on this record. I say the latter, because it’s the repetitive nature of the drumming that detracts and overloads the songs. There are times when less is more, and that rarely applies here. That’s nothing against the four musicians in question, for these are amongst the cream of the extreme metal world. Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Triptykon, Blotted Science), James Payne (Kataklysm, Hiss from The Moat), Ken Bedene (Aborted), Sebastian Lanser (Obsidious/Panzerballett) – all bring their power to this album and it’s a demonstration of their sheer skill and technical quality.
Second track “Monolith of Hate” is a prime example to support my point. The drumming is insanely fast, a cacophony of blistering workmanship, yet it dominates to the detriment of everything else on the record. It ends up being a chaotic, somewhat out of control track that doesn’t sound finished. At times, it even sounds like two different songs that are spliced together… and that’s never good.
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But if you can get past my minor irritations about the drumming, there’s plenty to enjoy here with the inclusion of some other guest musicians from the world of metal. Makhija has managed to craft his music in such a way that the blend of synths, clean vocals and death growls work cohesively and allow him to provide his lyrical views of the polarisation of the world – it’s difficult to challenge songs like “The Art of Disinformation”, “The Great Dictator” or the anthemic “Crushing The Iron Fist” which concludes the album.
The lead work across The Propaganda Machine is stunning, with guests Alex Baillie (Cognizance) Dean Paul Arnold (Primalfrost) and Sanjay Kumar (Equipoise, Wormhole, Greylotus) all putting in huge shifts, whilst the keys of ex-Cradle of Filth member Anabelle Iratni add subtle layers in the style that Demonstealer and Demonic Resurrection have made their own.
Makhija has always been hot on album art and here is no exception, a futuristic nightmare screams out at you, thanks to Daemorph Art. A quality production thanks to Hertz Studios in Poland means that despite my minor gripes, The Propaganda Machine is another release that stands strong in the Demonstealer discography.
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The Propaganda Machine is out on March 31st
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