DETERIOROT - Manifested Apparitions Of Unholy Spirits (30th Anniversary) CD

It's easy to fetishize early extreme metal EPs and demos. The passage of time plus a healthy dose of obscurity provides almost a perverse bit of fun in finding the next unknown and unheralded gem. (I count this as one of my favorite hobbies.) The ubiquitous Internet has allowed so many small issues to find a new audience where even ten years ago the only way to track down so many of these was to get extremely lucky on Discogs or make the right community connections. This has led a lot of people to "rediscover" lost releases as maligned masterpieces. Sometimes that's true, and sometimes it's wishcasting.

Deteriorot is in that first category. While this band was never that obscure - they released a couple LPs and have been intermittently active ever since 1990 - they also weren't one of the bigger bands of their time and place. However, they had the luck to be formed in New Jersey and be contemporaries with acts like Incantation, Immolation, and Rottrevore. If you're familiar with any of those three bands, then you have an idea of Deteriorot: super down-tuned, mid-paced death metal with hollow, deep vocals. "Cavernous", if you're feeling spunky.