The Demo Review:
Band Name: The Communion
Demo Title: Legitimate Underground
Band Members: Lee Altomare - Guitar, Bill Grundy - Guitar, Vocals; Joseph Dugan - Bass, Vocals; Rudy Terohiku - Drums
Location: New York, New York

Rating: 3 Skulls

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    • Metal Militia's Review:
    I always have trouble reviewing demos. It's difficult to come up with a lengthy review of the music because, really, the best way for a reader to understand what the band's demo sounds like is to simply check out the music for himself. With three or four tracks, usually of dubious quality, it's easy to confuse lack of talent with lack of sufficient studio experience; at other times there are some good ideas within certain tracks, but the songs themselves fail overall for whatever reason.

    The reason I mention this is because this band, The Communion, straddles that line. I enjoy the three tracks on here, but I can't really imagine this band taking the next step. Raw black/thrash would best categorize their sound and the first two tracks are quite catchy, good riffs, simple and sweet. Nothing outstanding, but the rawness has a nice effect. I'm not sure what to make of the song titles though. "Fistful of White Girl" and "I've Got a Big Coat (Come Here Paris)" aren't exactly fitting titles for this style of music. An inside joke perhaps? Whatever the reasoning behind it is, it makes me question the band's motives. If this is some kind of joke, that's fine, joke metal is great, but ambiguity is not. The third song, the best on a demo, has a much more generic title - "The War of Art (Boring)." This track is done right, dissonant, and it starts off slow and plodding with a simplistic but very effective riff setting up the song. Of course the break comes a few seconds into the song and The Communion start thrashing away, but the beginning provides a change of pace which makes the rest of the song stand out. I would suggest these guys try writing some slow-paced songs, if they can write some quality doom material I think they would be a much more interesting act.
    3 out of 5

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