It's been a long time since Cosmic Lava received new music from Motor City Zschopau, but a few weeks ago, Thomas Schulz (Dreaming) send me a copy of PETRIFIED's first demo that also includes two untitled tracks. Basically, the demo consists of three songs which have been recorded at the end of 2009. The band name and its design gives rise to the impression that PETRIFIED is a Pentagram cover band, but actually isn't. However, it is obvious that their heavy sound is strongly influenced by bands like Saint Vitus, Cold Mourning and, of course, Death Row/Pentagram. The songs are basic, raw and primitive and that is precisely what pleases me very much.

There is no pathos or any type of pure unadulterated kitsch. And luckily their sound is dynamic and does not follow only the same pattern. As a bonus, guitarist Maik Butler is able to pull off a couple of eerie riffs while the burly, menacing vocals of bassplayer Thomas Schulz gives the music its edge and increases the recognition factor. Here we have bludgeoning, heavy doom metal that is meant to be played extremely loud. Meanwhile I have heard some new tracks which are even better than this demo. They new material is really brutal and darker, but also more aggressive. I am confident that PETRIFIED's debut album will be very good, and that's just one of the reasons why I keep my eye on this cats.

(KK)

http://petrified.de.vu/