Rotting Corpse was an old thrash band that were peers with Pantera in the late eighties Texas metal scene, but don’t let that lead you astray as they sound nothing like them. The Demos is a collection of their four demos spanning from 1986 to 1990, hands down the heyday period for thrash. It’s done in chronological order and it’s pretty impressive to see their growth from a slower, no frills Show No Mercy era Slayer to a speedy, technical almost hardcore band.

The first demo is the least distinctive and worst produced of the bunch so it’s more of a testament to their not so inspiring beginnings than a true example of the band. What it does is set the stage for what’s to come. You can hear the heavy Slayer influence in the dive bomb solos and many of the chugging riffs and this influence stays strong throughout their entire career.

Their second demo, consisting of four songs, is my personal favorite. Even though it’s only one year later you can tell Reign In Blood had come out because these songs are faster and more brutal with plenty of wailing whammy bar solos and tight, groove laden thrash riffs. You can also hear their first flirting with double bass here but it doesn’t play a big part until their last demo.

The third demo is just two songs with one being a re-recorded version of a song off the previous one. This is weird because the quality on this one is far worse than the prior demo version but I’m sure it’s only on here so some lame record collector scum doesn’t say this album doesn’t have ALL their demo songs.

Last and definitely not least is their 1990 material. Once again this is a huge leap from their prior material in terms of technical ability and aggression. Even more so than before, the songs here absolutely reek of Slayer inspired solos some of which, like Bono says, are even better than the real thing. While the solos stayed consistent a lot of the thrash grooves from their earlier songs are mercilessly paved over by an almost non-stop metal/hardcore attack. You know the one: snare drum then kick drum then snare drum as fast as you can. That’s not to say there’s not some great thrash riffing found here and there but these guys were definitely going for speed above all else. Rounding out this demo is re-recorded versions of their first three song demo which turns out better than expected given the source material. They all get updated with their faster, double bass hardcore approach with the best example being their theme song “Rotting Corpse” which absolutely slays from start to finish, easily the angriest, fastest cut on the record.

If I had known about this band back in the day I would have definitely given their cassette a spin on my bright yellow sports walkman with sweet dual outputs. That’s not to say they’re in the upper echelons of the thrash metal elite, especially since they’re competing in the golden era of the genre, but there’s definitely some strong vintage thrash material here worth a look for fans of that period. So if you’re sick of all the metalcore out these days and long to bang your head to the sounds of yore, this is a thrashtastic period piece from an overlooked band.