Nihilist was only a footnote in the burgeoning Swedish death metal scene of the late '80s, but they were an important footnote. Four of
Nihilist's members -- singer L.G. Petrov, guitarist Alex Hellid, bassist Johnny Hedlund, and drummer Nicke Andersson -- went on to become members of
Entombed, one of the most important bands in the history of Nordic death metal. Some
Entombed fans would argue that
Entombed was really
Nihilist with a name change; others would counter that no,
Entombed and
Nihilist were two separate bands just as
Mother Love Bone and
Pearl Jam were two separate bands. At any rate,
Nihilist's demos have historic value -- which is why death metal historians need to be aware of this 48-minute CD. The main focus of
The Nihilish Demos is, as the title indicates, demos that the short-lived band recorded in 1988 and 1989.
Nihilist never provided an official full-length album, and these demos are the only chance to hear what they sounded like in the studio. Not everything on this disc is by
Nihilist -- the last three tracks are from
Entombed's But Life Goes On demo of 1989. But
Nihilist is the main focus, and their demos capture the primal, raw, punk-minded spirit that death metal had in the beginning. In 1988 and 1989, death metal was something new -- it was very much an outgrowth of thrash metal, and the thrash influence is quite evident on
Nihilist's demos. However,
Nihilist's work was more extreme and over-the-top than the thrash metal that
Metallica, Exodus, and
Megadeth were providing in the late '80s;
Nihilist was seriously into
Slayer and
Death, and one hears both of those influences on this disc.
The Nihilish Demos won't win any awards for its audiophile-like sound quality, but the urgency of the performances comes through -- and while this 2005 release isn't recommended to casual death metal listeners, it is easily recommended to
Entombed fans who consider themselves death metal historians and hardcore collectors. ~ Alex Henderson