This release needs a lot of patience to be explained, and would take hours, but let's try to do it in the fastest way possible: FUNERAL BITCH is one of many musical projects in the 80's where Paul Speckmann played; and he, along Chuck Schuldiner, the guys of POSSESSED and HELLHAMMER are the fathers of Death Metal (and not only POSSESSED, and many like to state). So the material from Paul's works on the middle of the 80's can be considered a huge influence for early Death Metal acts. So "The 80's Demos" comes to show the primordial elements of the genre, and the same ones that are guiding Paul throughout the years.

This compilation brings to the fans the tracks from the both demo tapes of FUNERAL BITCH (from track 1 to 5 are from the 1986's "Demo 1"; from track 6 to 9, from 1986's "Demo 2"), and some (from track 10 onward) are live shots called as "Live at Exit, Chicago, 22-09-1987". Such material is now available, showing a proto form of Death Metal played by the band, so traces of Thrash Metal, traditional Metal and even from Hardcore can be detected, but all of them mixed and creating a brutal and fast form of music that could be hard to digest on those days.

Well, if the readers are looking for something clean and defined from an underground band from the middle of the 80's, forget it. The sound is raw and putrid, as anyone could expect from a demo tape from those days, recorded in the ways that the bands could pay. It's not something that lacks of understanding, but it's not easy for some that are used to clean sonorities to deal with. But as a documentary, it's fine.

On "Demo 1" tracks ("Funeral Bitch", "Last Laugh", "McMac Attack", "Fraudulent Fools", and "Omega Man"), everything sounds brutal and really influenced by Hardcore, with nasty guitars and HC tempos and backing vocals, but with that 'full' sound of Metal. On "Demo 2" songs ("False Prophets", "Out of Space", "Chest, Breast, Molest", and "The Truth"), the sonority improves a lot, so Death/Thrash Metal traces appear (including a guitar sound influenced by CELTIC FROST), and the songs are better worked, but keeping the same aggressive insight. And on the live tracks ("Funeral Bitch", "Omega Man", "False Prophets", "Last Laugh", "Tunnel of Damnation", "Pay to Die" and "The Truth"), the things become sour, and hard to understand, like it's a rehearsal or a live show recorded by a 2-track device hidden on the back pocket of someone pants. But this release must be faced as a documentary

So "The 80's Demos" comes as a very good release for the fans that want to know a bit more about Death Metal roots, and about Paul's musical ideology. And by the way, he wrote the liner notes of this release.