Poison - Sons of Evil Demo

Who is your daddy and what does he do?

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on December 28th 2022) 

Like many others who spend the majority of their time listening to music, I end up going on “archaeological expeditions”, scrounging up obscurities across a genre, in this case metal. I feel like listening to these types of recordings can provide one with a good amount of insight in regards to how a specific sound or scene evolved over time, and while the work may not be perfect, it can still make for an enjoyable listen. Such is the case with Poison’s very first demo, Sons of Evil, a shining example of a release forgotten by time, despite it being one of the very first examples of extreme metal.
For one, this demo might just be one of the rawest recordings I’ve ever subjected my ears to. There’s heaps of ear-piercing feedback laced throughout every song here, with the guitars being reduced to a thin buzz that’s overpowered by the tinny drums, while the bass itself is all but gone with only a few moments where it’s audible on tracks like “Angel of Satan/March to Hades” and “Hell of the Living Dead”. It’s raw and hostile, and basically sounds like what someone who doesn’t listen to demos thinks they all sound like. Nevertheless, it does manage to conjure up a distinctly ghoulish atmosphere, especially when adding Virgin Slaughter’s warbled growls to the mix. Sure, he can be mistaken for a very belligerent drunk, but his vocal lines carry a hefty punch and further add to the unhinged nature of the music.
The sloppiness carries over to the music itself, with Poison putting out one of the first death metal releases alongside the likes of Possessed and Death. The guitars dish out high-octane riffage on a regular basis, with Sons of Evil boasting scorchers like “Possessed”, “Legions of Hell” and “Slaughter” that start at a high tempo and never let up. Despite the poor sound quality these tracks manage to jump at the listener by virtue of sheer audacity and intensity, making for a proper punch to the throat. The lead work presented here follows suit, with just about every solo played here being nothing short of slop. Random pauses, missed notes, the works. Despite that though, there are some surprisingly involved guitar parts here, such as those on “Hell of the Living Dead” and “Black Death”, which are surprisingly elaborate, standing out against the relentlessly harsh background.

The songwriting in general manages to expand beyond “We play fast for 40 minutes straight”, which never ceases to impress me whenever I listen to this release. There’s a surprising amount of curveballs thrown at the listener, with there being a good handful of doomier segments sprinkled throughout, as seen on tracks like “Black Death” and “Demon”. And that’s not all of it either, seeing as we have a very cool Middle Eastern-sounding riff setting the stage on “Angel of Satan/March to Hades” and that vaguely stoner-y bassline on “Hell of the Living Dead”. Though the band went on to do more ambitious things with their debut, it’s still quite impressive that they managed to conjure up such interesting ideas on their very first release.
Truthfully, one can dismiss Sons of Evil as garbage. It sounds terrible, and you can’t hear the music that's being played half the time. Despite that though, I find myself charmed by it. Something about the sincerity and ballsiness with which the band plays grabbed me and refused to let go, even if it isn’t a release that falls under the traditional definition of “good”. It’s an important relic for extreme metal, and definitely worthy of at least a cursory listen. That being said, if you do want to hear Poison at their best, go check out their Into the Abyss. It’s more accessible on a sonic level, and it sees the band’s ideas fully formed and out of the demo’s embryonic stage.
Highlights: Inferno Breaks Out, Angel of Satan/March to Hades, Hell of the Living Dead, Gonna Make You Die

Rating: 54% 

  

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