Continuing in the vein of corrupted and distorted Heavy Metal that Venom originally graced us with some 20+ years ago, Hellraper grace us with this obscure debut sampler of their brand of blackened thrash metal. Although...a lousy production job might not be enough to earn a band a 'blackened' tag, and while there are Thrash-style riffs on here a lot of them chug along at a distinctly un-Thrash speed. Whichever nouns you start fighting over the describe this tape, be sure to remember that the operative words for this release are 'raw' and 'ugly'.

After an entertaining horror/porn intro that made my brother enter the room to find out what the hell was going on - anything that provokes a reaction from family has to have something going for it - the tape launches into four songs of the aforementioned style. The raw and ugly production means just about everything is lost in the mix at some point or another. The gutteral Venom-inspired vocals are usually quite distinct, but everything else comes and goes, possibly depending on whatever you might try picking out at the time. For example, the riffage is quite bass-heavy, but although Necrosadist is credited for playing both guitar and bass you're not quite sure whether he's playing one or the other, or both at the same time on occasions. The simplistic drumming, complimenting the simplistic riffing, sounds like it was recorded on the other side of the room from the other members. I'm used to demo-level recordings having drums too loud and guitars too quiet but the opposite is happening here!

As is always the case with Venom-influenced Black/Thrash Metal, what is absent in technical proficiency and/or originality is made up for with an abundance of energy. The pseudo-comic book horror attitude and raw sound might well make this demo the soundtrack for some peoples' drinking sessions - it's that kind of music! It might be ideal for that kind of listening if there was a bit more speed to compliment the style, and if the songs were a bit more distinct. Beyond the chorus to the title track, which is nothing more than an unsurprising "Feed...Bit-ches...With Satan's...Seed!", there's nothing much in terms of riffs, lyrics or vocals that makes this demo stand out. At least nothing distinctly audible anyway. That is, until the last song...

Though I only mentioned four songs earlier, there is a fifth that wraps the tape up in style. Invincible Force has a different drummer, was recorded at a different location, and written by a different person altogether. It appears to be a winning combination, because here at the end the tempo is picked up and the production becomes clearer, and a whole new burst of energy is introduced thanks to it. It becomes a 'song' as opposed to a 'mess', and while it's been said that a mess can certainly work, putting this song at the end kind of makes you see what you've been missing. After the chug-chug preceding it, this song's rapid-fire riffing gives the rest of the demo a kind of inferiority complex!

Standout Tracks:  Invincible Force.

Overall Score:   6 /10