Artist: Crepuscule
Country: Italy
Label: La Caverna Records
Formats: CD
Year: 2025
Among the set of demo tapes recently re-released by La Caverna Records is also this single demo from Crepuscule. This Italian band was formed by the duo Raff Sangiorgio and Rodolfo “Rudy” Russo more or less on the ashes of High Speed Death, whose only demo was also unearthed by La Caverna Records. Although ‘Damned Genesis’ was a charming demo, High Speed Death lacked quite a bit of musical direction – it was literally a hotchpotch of every style of Extreme Metal. Crepuscule, on the other hand, clearly aimed for a thoroughly Death Metal sound.
‘Hybrid Cancer’, originally recorded and released in 1992, it is more than clear that these two guys had progressed significantly when it comes to both their individual musicianship and their nose for song writing. In just over 20 minutes, including an extra track for this reissue, you can hear that especially in the transitions in rhythms they aim for a much more technical approach. Admitted, sometimes it feels their aim is a bit higher than what they were able to reach, but let’s just call it youthfully ambitious.
While the two might not have reached the levels of Gorguts for instance, it is more or les in that direction that Crepuscule was heading on this one and only demo tape. Both the guitars and the drums are showing off some nice technical complexity with lots of shifting paces, choppy riffs and wild whammy leads. Add some good growling for good measure and you have a good idea of what Crepuscule was all about.
It is basically only the rather murky production that holds the demo back a bit, as compared to a lot of their peers Crepuscule didn’t exactly feel inferior at all. In fact, this duo is ahead of many of the American and Dutch Death Metal bands that tended to do add some more complexity to their blend of Death Metal. Let alone in the Italian underground, this could easily be one of the best Italian (Technical) Death Metal demos from those Death Metal heydays.
If you haven’t had the chance to pick up the cassette version of this tape that was released through Ripping Storm Records last year, than you’re doing yourself a favour to score this CD-version now. On a personal level, I would’t mind having this one on vinyl either…
