2004 had an especially awesome assortment of demos released. While I could've done a top five, ten seemed more suitable for the amount of demos that rocked these speakers. If you can view demos as previews of what's to come, 2005 will no doubt be critical.
01. Gunsmoke With their dynamic brand of hardcore, Gunsmoke without a doubt released the best demo of 2004. With the recording being as good or better than any regular EP and songs already showing tons of originality, this is beyond demo status. With Gunsmoke's first shows coming up soon I'd suggest wearing a adamantium raincoat for this fireball that's about to launch. http://www.citylimitrecords.net/gunsmoke
02. This Is Hell Some people like their hardcore gritty and some other people like their hardcore ROCKIN'. This Is Hell combines these two elements to make a really rocking hardcore sound that's more raw then that goatsecx guy. Who woulda thunked that Hell had singalongs this catchy too? In 2005 I still can't get them out of my head! This also got released on vinyl through Run For Cover records. http://www.thisishell.org
03. Shook Ones In a parallel universe I met this dude. He was like, "I like hardcore, but it's usually not melodic enough for me!" At that point I began flying (because you can fly in this parallel universe) at full speed in his direction with the Shook Ones demo tape. I released it about 500 feet away from him and it landed directly into his cassette player. Within minutes he was naked humping everything he could during those seven minutes of demo sweetness. http://www.legitimatebros.com/main.php?pg=shook_ones
04. Breathing Fire I don't kill people. I don't continue hitting someone after they're dead. If I were to do those things, I think Breathing Fire would create the perfect soundtrack for it. All eleven tracks never let up with pure brutal power violence. The slow parts are heavy like a shitload of diarrhea and the fast parts are fast like cheetahs on speed. http://www.painkillerrecords.com/bf.html
05. The Mourning Dawn Since The Nerve Agents, I haven't heard a dark hardcore band that can pull it off without getting completely naked. Bay Area's brand new The Mourning Dawn starts with a head start featuring members of Life Long Tragedy, These Days, Jealous Again, Jumpstreet, Days To Streaks and more broken up ones. Feedback, poison laced screams, fucked up lyrics, and guitar harmonies that bring out the worst of anybody make this worth the listen. Also, this was recorded at the same place as Gunsmoke, so expect excellent sound. http://www.myspace.com/tmd
06. The Scend If bands like Isis and Pelican strike your fancy, The Scend will rub that clit into oblivion. Instrumental like Pelican, The Scend brings a style of metal that sounds like talented dudes jamming in a garage. There are tons of parts in each song and each are drawn out long enough where you could break your neck from too much headbanging. It's not all raw rockdom though, there is some beauty thrown in there for that dynamic juxtaposition. http://www.hxcmp3.com/bands/15298
07. Snakebite The TLC channel has this show where they do makeovers. New Jersey's Snakebite went on the show and pwned everyone with severe sarcasm as the show made them into 100% real punks! Such a display of pwnage was awesome in itself, but what was better? The Snakebite demo! Blurring the lines between punk and hardcore, this demo has really rock 'n' roll influenced guitar parts with snotty vocals that'll make you wanna cut off the sleeves on your shirts. http://bleedingedges.net/snakebite/
08. Hammertime While Duckhunt seems to be getting most of the attention, Hammertime released this demo around the same time as them and broke up the same night. In my opinionated opinion, this demo is better. Eight songs in about four minutes with the shortest song being fifteen seconds. If that's not rad, I don't know what is. The intro's lyrics are "Hammertime! Hamertime! Hammertime! Hammertime! Hammertime! Hammertime! Hammertime!" Some dudes from this band are going to be in Ceremony, so look out for that!
09. Tower Of Rome Long song titles. Fast metallic grind. Did I mention mosh breakdowns? Oh wait, I can read everything I'm writing and didn't! Already you've decided if you'd ever check this out or not, so on to the next demo. http://www.myspace.com/towerofrome
10. Life Is A Fight While to most the word screamo might bring awful connotations of pop punk bands screaming because they heard a Thursday song, with Life Is A Fight they mean it more in a traditional sense. That is abundantly clear with six songs influenced by bands such as Joshua Fit For Battle, Portrait and American Football. http://www.purevolume.com/lifeisafight -Zed
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