An obscure gem from the cassette-age
When Gnosis came out in 1994 as Danish death practitioners debut demo, their style of specialised weirdening death metal was perhaps a bit late to the ball. After all, off-kilter death metal classics like Considered Dead and Piece of Time had already been out for a few years at this point. However, Compulsory's demo isn't without its own flair.
"...tonalities all over the spectrum,"
It's not disharmonic like Gorguts, or hyperactive jazz-infusion like Atheist, but of those two they're definitely closer cousins to the latter. With tonalities all over the spectrum, Compulsory take the harsh groove of classic death metal and splice it together with strange crossover themes and the sound of 90s Scandinavian metal.
Strangely it seems that the band members of Compulsory never really got around to doing other bands after Compulsory's demise. The band only ever amounted to a few demos and a 1999 full length album before splitting up, and while Gnosis doesn't quite have the same international class that - in the same year - propelled Cryptopsy to greater heights, it has that Scandinavian sound that many cherish. Combined with some generally crafty groove and a killer vocal performance, Gnosis is a cool addition to the collection.
Strangely it seems that the band members of Compulsory never really got around to doing other bands after Compulsory's demise. The band only ever amounted to a few demos and a 1999 full length album before splitting up, and while Gnosis doesn't quite have the same international class that - in the same year - propelled Cryptopsy to greater heights, it has that Scandinavian sound that many cherish. Combined with some generally crafty groove and a killer vocal performance, Gnosis is a cool addition to the collection.
7/10
Released in 1994 independently
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