(Has nothing to do with Keith Merrow but might share a common goal with him?)

Metal instrumentalist savant Keith Merrow has been teasing his new death metal side-project Demisery for quite awhile now so it’s about damn time he gave us something concrete to listen to. I kid; Keith, like most musicians, probably has a real job and possibly even a family, meaning he’s got little time to devote to pleasing Internet Metal Nerds and owes us absolutely nothing. But “Thralldom,” the first track I’ve heard from the upcoming Demisery effort Hive of Mutation, makes me remember all over again just why I love all of Keith’s work so much in the first place — dude’s insanely fucking talented! “Thralldom” makes the majority of death metal we hear on a daily basis sound not only light in comparison but pedestrian in nature. Keith takes your death metal, rips it up, stomps all over it then shoves it up your ass. “Thralldom” has catchy riffs without losing track of the art of songwriting, and, needless to say (but I gotta say it anyway), flawless execution… and to thank this is just a side project. That’s Gord Olson on the growls; I think my bowels just shifted.

I can’t wait to hear more. Keith tells MetalSucks he hopes to have the record out by year’s end.

-VN