Transcription

Demo 2003 - Hecatombe
The southern band Hecatombe, which released their first demo in 2001, “Nightmares”, on the beginning of the 2002 semester, decided to release their second demo, “Demo 2002”, but this time, only available for download in their official website, without being released in CD – the way “Nightmares” was released. Now the current line-up was responsible for the recording of the material, what hasn’t happened in the first demo, since some members of that time are no longer in the band.

Mark Nicolau (vocal only, not a rhythm guitarist anymore), Mauro Caldart and Emmanoel Meira (guitars), Fernando Lusa (bass) and Alan Troian (drums) form Hecatombe, a band who still follow the traditional heavy metal like MEGADETH and Iced Earth, with a few touches of 80’ thrash metal and even some points of Blind Guardian in a few parts of the material. It seems that now the singer Mark has found a way of blending his style with the heavy style of the band, and with a great production, not behind the instruments. The two young guitarists deserve a special note as well, especially by their solid rhythm and great creation of solos. But, undoubtedly, what calls the attention most in the material is the great presence of the drummer Alan Troian, a really complete musician, who apparently decided to emphasize the drums in the production, since what we can hear in all five tracks is impeccable drums.

After a small intro, “Speed Limit”, the first song comes in sequence, with a lot of heaviness and a good beat regarding to guitar / drums, being perfect to be played live, to start thrilling all the audience. “My Own God” is a more straight song, following the same beat almost all the time, except the part where the music gets a little faster, like the previous track. “The Last Day” is the demo’s ballad, highlighting the great (really great) interpretation of the singer Mark, with different tones, each one, very well put in the different instrumental parts of the band. “Changing their Minds: The First Key” is like “My Own God”, but this one varies between melodic and cadenced parts. To me, the best song is the last, “Struggle for Life”, again, perfect for shows with a great drums intro, falling again into a very strong and heavy song.

Detail: I do believe that by the fact of the files being in MP3, I can’t really hear the bassist Fernando, but if this is a production’s mistake, I think it’s interesting to fix it. To the band: congratulations on the release. And lastly, one tip: what about mixing the two demos and make the first album release? Experience and quality for that, Hecatombe already has.

Official Website: www.hecatombe.ca.tc

Line-up:
Mark Nicolau (vocal)
Mauro Caldart (guitar)
Emmanoel Meira (guitar)
Fernando Lusa (bass)
Alan Troian (drums)

Track-list:
01. Speed Limit
02. My Own God
03. The Last Day
04. Changing Their Minds: The First Key
05. Struggle for Life