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Demonologist is a new band out of Ukraine that plays blackened thrash on their debut album, I Curse, I Dance. I say "blackened thrash" rather than the more common "black/thrash" because they don’t play the typical, chaotic first-wave music you hear from bands like Bewitcher, Bat, Seax, etc. that is characterized by wild, punky playing and bellowed shouting. Rather, they play a melodic thrash featuring clear, sharp riffing like you would hear on an ‘80s Megadeth or Overkill album that is set off by pure black metal rasping vocals. Demonologist write good songs that make for a satisfyingly heavy listening experience, but the songwriting is limited and the songs sound similar to one another. The vocals, while raspy, are a bit one-dimensional as well and, while they accentuate some songs, they don’t do much for others. There are plenty of grooves on I Curse, I Dance that had my head banging but I honestly can’t remember many of them despite several listens. With better and more diverse songwriting, I believe Demonologist could bring some much-needed variety to the black/thrash field.