Long Island New York's INTERNAL BLEEDING has long been a favorite band of mine from back in the day.  In fact, with the popularity that has been afforded to the Slam genre, one would think the band would get more credit for their seminal contribution in building it.  Nonetheless, thirty years later, the band persists.  On September 3^rd, Comatose Music will be releasing "Heritage of Sickness II," a collection of demo material from the early days along with a live track recorded two years ago.

Though this is demo material that has been remastered, many of the songs appear on INTERNAL BLEEDING's first two albums.  The exception here, along with the live track, is the first, "Beyond the Gates of Tartaros".  Sonically speaking, it reflects much of the other material, a collection which provides an accurate snapshot of that time period from the band.

This is followed by "Despoilment of Rotting Flesh" which can also be found on the band's debut, "Voracious Contempt".  It is a violent, trilling ride, tenacious in its veracity.  Following this is "Ruthless Inhumanity," a track also on their second album, "Extinction of Benevolence".  A track such as this provides the listener with a clear musical foreshadowing of the band's later triumphs.

A track that takes this preview yet a step further is the fifth, "Epoch of Barbarity".  It is simply chocked full of belligerent, nasty breakdowns.  It seems there are bands out there who started their whole career on the blueprint of this song; however, INTERNAL BLEEDING does it best.

That original flair is felt in both delivery and creativity.  While this is demo material, the production has been tweaked enough to offer a higher definition listening experience especially when weighing its overall quality to other recordings of the time.  Cranked wide open, the album slams as it was intended to.

Yet another highlight from the album is the sixth track, "Anointed in Servitude" which capitalizes on the intensity of the previous track.  The breakdown toward the end is the sort one would imagine Dimebag to have written had he played Death Metal.  Finally, the album closes with a live version of "Focus," a track from the band's 2018 album "Corrupting Influence".  No other word could best describe it save for the overused "brutal" - it just fits.

Overall, the album provides one with a glimpse at this highly influential band's early years.  Though the track listing differs little from the first edition of this collection that appeared in 2012, the completionist will treasure its contents.  Lastly, it is the perfect album to play for arrogant youth who think there was nothing before Deathcore!