Alucarda - D.F.F.L (2013) | 78%

Dying From Fucking Lego

This demo is the first release of this solo project from Denmark and it's quite cool. Named after a cult Mexican horror movie, the sound of this twenty minutes release is definitely interesting and worth the time for the underground metal fans in need of well done occult music. The sample at the beginning of the last track is from the movie “Satan's Sadist”, another cult movie and it has this cheesy but enjoyable vintage vibe that is often well liked in that genre.

Even though the production is very rough, I think it compliments the songwriting of H Witchfuzz, a dude named Hampus Wahlgren who's a newcomer in the scene but he's definitely there to stay since he has an interesting take on the whole vintage doom sound. The guitar riffs are still pretty discernible under all the fuzz. It's pretty damn fast...oh yeah, I forgot to say that he's including a shitload of punk in his sound. It sounds like Satan's Satyrs but with a better production (getting a better sound than “Wild Beyond Belief!” wasn't quite difficult since it was the shittiest sound ever). In fact, if you're a fan of this American band, get this demo immediately. It's available for free if you don't like tapes, so you guys have no excuses!

It's mostly groovy as fuck and pretty speedy but the doom influence remains obvious. It's a good mix of influences and the formula totally works. The track “Wicked Sabbath” is a pretty heavy & slow one using potent doom qualities. Full of distortion à la Electric Wizard, the music is pretty thunderous, the bass is loud and the drumming is fast paced. The fact it's very speedy gives the band an interesting edge and it's not only a mix of doom and punk, it feels connected and natural.

The vocal facet of the project will perhaps be the breaking point for certain people. They're clean and buried under the mix but high and screechy, they can be a bit grating at times but I guess that my tolerance for such vocals is good. I do think it's original and it's a change from the buried, deep vocals the doom genre tends to use. It has this nice DIY vibe that I like, it's honest and fun and I rarely ask for more when there's also a quality in the songwriting. To conclude, Alucarda is a project with a lot of potential and it will be interesting to hear the future releases.

Download the demo here