Ceremony - The Days Before the Death (2000)

Let's be honest--you can argue all you want about labels that actually care about music and quality, but the bottom line is that the music industry is based on business.  If releasing music wasn't profitable, labels wouldn't exist (well, except for possibly 2 or 3 bullheaded DIY guys doing it as a "statement," but they'd probably all be focused on releasing noise rock and ambient).  So cash-grab releases shouldn't come as a surprise, but this one is more blatant than most--a 14-minute mini-CD that exists to capitalize on the fact that a pre-Morbid Angel Steve Tucker and pre-Cannibal Corpse Pat O'Brien are in the ranks.  Steve Tucker writes in the liner notes that these later musical endeavors show the caliber of the musicians involved in Ceremony.  I'll admit joining two of death metal's most famous bands is no small feat, but both guys were just mid-'90s replacements in bands whose most defining moments and best material were already long behind them.

As critical as the above sounds, musically I actually have no real problem with this release.  It's a 1993 (I think--the recording notes mention '93 but Tucker mentions '92...See the obvious care that went into this?) demo recording, just 3 songs and a 43 sec. acoustic instrumental.  Fairly standard early '90s death metal, not super technical but more proficient than your typical demo-level band.  I was about to say there's a detectable Floridian vibe to it (the band is from Ohio), but then I read inside the booklet that this reissue was mastered at Morrisound.  Go figure.  This is not an obscure gem by any means, but to a certain extent I found it more enjoyable than the MA and CC material Messrs. Tucker and O'Brien played on.

The liner notes mention that this reissue was originally inspired by Darragh O'Leary of Invictus Prod., yet unfortunately this came out on Hammerheart, who gave it one of the most generic layouts possible.  This was obviously cranked out to turn a quick buck and wring the most out of minimal design effort.  There's at least one earlier Ceremony demo too, so I would have rather waited for a more comprehensive discography CD, as any label could have done a better job both presentation and content-wise.  But hey, this cost me 99 cents, and it's certainly worth that.