Dear friends, to make the upcoming re-edition of the complete discography of the Czech death metal icon Tortharry, "25 let mezi nebem a peklem", truly complete, it shall contain rare stuff, i.e. all the band demos!
The first one is from 1991, when Tortharry were not yet called Tortharry, but Executor, and in that year, the recorded an eponymous demo that was never officially released and was the only piece made under the Executor name. It was recorded in a garage in Velká Dřevíč, which simultaneously served as the band’s rehearsal room, and back then, the drummer Miroslav “Juan” Jirman was the proud owner of his first professional Amati drumkit that had one small issue – it was bright orange – which was fine with Juan, yet irritating to the rest of the band so much so that when he went on a vacation with his parents, they re-painted the drums black. Juan was not happy when he returned.
Tracklist of the Executor demo contains six songs and as a sample, we bring you the second track “Mezi nebem a peklem”:
The band probably liked this song, “Mezi nebem a peklem”, so much that when they recorded the first official Tortharry demo in the same year, 1991, in the same place, the garage in Velká Dřevíč, it was not only included, but also gave the name to the whole demo. The demo was self-released which entailed copying it at the home of the bassist Martin Vacek on a hi-fi set, which was bought using the bank loan for newlyweds, originally of course intended for something completely different. And on top of that, due to the constant copying, the hi-fi broke down.
Tracklist of “Mezi nebem a peklem” demo contains six songs as well, with the fifth track, “Z podkosy”, coming to you as the sample:
The third demo featured on the re-edition is from 1992 and is entitled “Flames of Eternity”. It is the first time that Dan Pavlík appeared in the band line-up, as he joined Tortharry when he left the band Turbulence (in which the future Tortharry manager Goro was also involved). This time, recording took place not in a garage, but in a studio in Petrovice, where all went generally well, though during a stop on the way back home, the guitarist Jarda Rubeš broke his front teeth by falling face down onto concrete when exiting the van completely drunk. His only reaction was something about his wife killing him.
Tracklist of “Flames of Eternity” demo contains five songs and as a sample, let’s take the third track “The Altar”:
The last demo Tortharry recorded was “Incriminated” from 1993. This was recorded in the Past Studio near Hradec Králové, and for the band it was the first visit to a professional studio. Perhaps because of that, it was the calmest recording session maybe ever, interspaced with regular consumption of boiled pork and other delicacies in the nearby slaughterhouse.
Tracklist of “Incriminated” demo contains five songs as well, with the final sample being the third track "Eternal Insanity":
So now you should have a clear idea as to what you will find on “25 let mezi nebem a peklem”. Enjoy and next time we shall look at the re-edition art.