It's a pity that some releases are left on hold for years and years, and some will never see the light. The reasons for such thing form an endless list, so the best is to try to figure out case by case. And in the case of "Live Disfigurements", live album of Danish quartet MACERATION, things are clear now. This live release is the first live show of the band, recorded at June 8^th 1990, in Aktivitetshuset in Esbjerg on the Western coast of Denmark. It was a part of an event when the quartet was the opening act for DARKTHRONE (on those days, they were still a Death Metal band). The songs are displaying an immature band that was only beginning (and to be honest, it's the first experience of Jacob and Rune Hansen on Death Metal), but with a promising Old School Death Metal appeal, heavily influenced by names as DEATH, CARCASS, OBITUARY and others titans of the genre. It's brutal, nasty and aggressive, and it's all that a Death Metal fan can ask.

Obviously, the material was asking for a remastering, and it was done at Angioni Studios by the hands of Marco Angioni (known for his works with TYGERS OF PAN TANG, PANZERCHRIST, and others). It's filthy, crude and with that essential organic appeal of a live shot on those old days. But it's not a total waste at all. And "The Forgotten" was recorded on other show, in Zwolle, Holland, 1993, as "Dawn of Eternity" was recorded live in Aarhus, Denmark, 1992.

This release can be said as a documentary as well, because it was the first time Jacob played drums, and MACERATION is the first Danish Death Metal act (and such points explain why so many covers are presented on this release). But the potential of the band is clear on songs as "Megaton/Vestige of Earthly Remains" (a filthy Old School Death Metal song, with massive energy flowing from the guitars), "Hideous Disfigurements" (with some Thrash Metal touches in a similar way to DARK ANGEL on "Darkness Descends" days), "Incombustible Remains" (some features on this one are similar to what can be found on SEPULTURA's "Morbid Vision" era, especially due the brutal work on bass guitar and drums), "Total Obstipation", "Time Flies" and "The Forgotten". But to show how things are immature, the band plays "Godly Beings" (and OBITUARY cover) twice, "Slowly We Rot" (another old OBITUARY song), "Evil Dead" (yes, the same old and great hymn of DEATH). And "Dawn of Eternity" comes from another show (as said above) and it's a classic song of MASSACRE.

Yes, this release is very good, and "Live Disfigurements" is a testimony of what MACERATION was in its early days.