Customer Reviews

The Plague

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I remember sitting in my room - aged eleven - and listening to Tom Russell's Rock Show, as was standard procedure for many rock fans in the Glasgow area. He introduced 'The Plague' by Demon and, when the dark menace of the opening riff blasted from my speakers, every hair on my body stood on end. It still happens today when I listen to that track at high volume. Quite honestly, it is one of the heaviest and most phenomenal songs ever written - easily as good as anything by renowned riffmasters Black Sabbath or Deep Purple. My worry when an album starts out with such a knockout track is that the only way may be down for the rest of the material; not the case with this album, which starts as it means to continue - with beautiful keyboard melodies, well-defined and original guitar riffs, and the soulful, majestic power of Dave Hill's voice.
My personal favourites are the sonically gorgeous 'Blackheath' and the dark beauty of the title track. There is not, however, a weak point on the rest of the album, so you won't have to worry about flipping past songs; this is one of the rare albums that is essential listening from start to finish.
The remastered version provides additional material in the form of the original mixes of all tracks, which is interesting, as it allows the listener to hear the seeds from which the final polished product grew.
Buy it, play it loud...it's Demon at their best!

Of all the Demon releases I've heard this is my favourite. The early sound was very raw and the later albums couldn't match the class of this one. It isn't a hard metal album and it isn't a progressive rock album - it's a melodic hard rock album with progressive tendencies. It's still a heavy album and the playing is top quality.

If you just want a pure metal album or if you just want a pure progressive rock album then this one is not for you. But if you want an album that intelligently mixes the two together and comes somewhere in between (something like neo prog) then you might well like this album. I liked it 20 years ago when I first heard it and I still like it now.

I Completely agree with Klaus, the other reviewer.
Don't be misled by the name "Demon", because this is not another death metal band. They are somewhere in between old school metal and progessive rock and they play far too nice to be scary metalheads. No skull crashing distortion and grunts here ! They have a very conservative, school-like approach on their music and they never freak out. So don't expect flashy solo stuff from any of the musicians. It's just nice, clean, well-played and well-conceived hard rock. There is, however, one song on the album that really grabs you by the throat and that's "Fever in the city". If you close your eyes listening to that tune you will find yourself in some stinking medieval city infested by what was called "black death" or "the plague". This song is really impressive and the instruments are well-chosen to evoke that mood of complete desperation. Dave Hill's voice is also very powerful and dramatic (as always). This record sounds fuller and completer than its predecessors because of the extended use of keyboards that nicely fill up the gaps created by rather thin-sounding guitars, bass and drums.

Seldom, if ever, a metal band departed so drastically from the style contained in its previous efforts like DEMON did with THE PLAGUE! They simpy quit with the straigh forwarded Britiavy metal of their two first albuns (NIGHT OF THE DEMON and THE UNEXPECTED GUEST - both classics) and changed thelves into a totally progressive rock band, totally filled with keyboards in all songs, quiting the dark lyrics and including politics an social questions instead! The result was a quite satisfactory album, much more complete and abrangent than the first two albuns, but lacking their punch. It's the kind of album that does no good for a band, due to the drastic change. I wond how the from Finland below (Roger) says this album is between AC/DC and Iron Maiden, if it is nowhere close to hard rock or heavy metal, besides the fact that AC/DC NEVER used keyboards (and Maiden very few), and DEMONS's THE PLAGUE is filled with keyboards from back to back, them being the main instrument!

This is one of the best album from this group. Melodical hard rock from the 80`s. Check it out and you will not be disapointed. The music is actually between AC/DC and Ironmaiden. Maybe the most underrated group ever. Roger!!!!

I knew it! I bloody knew it. Not only is this album (and this band for that matter) wrongly categorized as "New wave of British Heavy Metal". It is also totally ignored - noone having reviewed.
Basic facts on Demon. British? Yes! Eighties? Yes? Heavy? Suppose so .. at times that is. NWOBHM? Not in a million years! Demon started out sounding like a merger between Sabbath and AC/DC, releasing two decent albums: "Night of the Demon" and "The Unexpected Guest" that for reasons beyond me are the ones remembered today.
At that time (early eighties) their third release (The Plague) by far exceded the aforementioned ... and that goes for reviews, sales and yes ... to my mind at least ... certainly quality.
After that Demon went on to record af number of records at a steeply declining quality. Their fourth "Heart of our Time" beeing more than okay but thats about it. Guitarist Mal Spooner died somewhere in the mid-eighties and that more than anything else meant the (creative) end to Demon. If you buy this one and like what you hear - try out "Heart of our Time" as well. If you want to hear Demon on a totally different stylesheet: buy "the unexpected guest". Those releases are three and a half starred. Also the much later liverelease: "One Helluva Night", is worth the money and time.
The Plague however is unique. It is what might be called minimalistic progressive rock (if there is such a thing). It is also a very strongly set up concept (in the original LP) release with lyrics and music weaved splendidly together with Mike Hannans awesome pencildrawings.
The concept of "The Plague" is control to some extend comparable to 1984 and Big Brother. The music with its moodchanges built brilliantly around the concept as Demon avoid one of the progressive scenes major mishaps concerning concept-albums of pushing pointles (but technically flawless) solos into the music.
This is not a record to leave you in high spirit. It's a sad political statement that you might consider socialist or liberal but certainly anti-totalitarian. Surely the story of society labeling people who don't fit in as insane is relevant even at this day and age ... if not in the first world ?? certainly elsewhere on the blue planet. And the music - if not excactly timeless has a unique quality making it absolutely listenable in the third millenium.
And the music interacts excellently with the lyrics - both words and chords written by aforementioned Mal Spooner and singer Dave Hill. There are beautiful moodchanges, sharpedged passages and melodic interplays and bridges all put together in exceptionel and tight arrangements and performed by strong and matured musicians. I simply cannot think of a conceptalbum of a more consistant and impressive quality. And that goes for Genesis and Yes aswell as Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree. Listen to the built up that leads to "The only Sane Man". I guarantee you, that you will be drawn into the music and into the concept. And you will want to hear more from this spectacular band. Sadly though ... there is litlle more to find.
I suppose this re-release comes with a plain cover and no booklet (even af full booklet in CD-format wouldn't be optimal though). The original LP had a fulsize booklet with lyrics and drawings as an integrated part of the release. On the other hand the music in itself stands strongly and very recommended. This is heavy stuff and it demands attention ... but it is certainly worth it. "while Manson throws away the key ... beware of the ... plague".

This is a great album for anyone that grew up in the 80's with Styx, REO, and the like. It's harder rock than those bands, and the sound quality is great.

It's good to see the Demon albums getting the remaster treatment. The certainly deserve it. Demon was always one of the more underrated New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) bands - come to think of it, aside from Maiden, Saxon and a few others, they were all pretty much underrated.

The Plague, originally released in 1983, was Demon's third album, and marks the point where Demon abandons the straight ahead metal sound of previous albums Night of the Demon and The Unexpected Guest in favor of more melodic epic pomp/prog rock approach that sounded like equal parts Magnum and Uriah Heep. I can see how metal fans might be turned off by the band's change of direction, but I think it works pretty well. Dave Hill seems much more at ease with this kind of music, and his songwriting improved as a result. Instead of clichéd odes to the occult, The Plague is a chilling post apocalyptic concept album that examines the real horrors in our world rather than those in fantasy.

If you're a fan of classic rock and metal, and haven't heard Demon, I highly recommend checking them out, though the Plague is perhaps not the best album to start with. Instead I'd recommend Night of the Demon or the Unexpected Guest. If you're already familiar with the band and are wondering whether to pick up the reissues, I'd recommend doing so since these remasters sound terrific.

Edition Notes: Dead Ringer's 2003 reissue of The Plague provides a much needed upgrade, not to mention getting this great album back in circulation after a long absence. The remastered sound breathes new life into the album, and there are six bonus tracks included for good measure. The bonus tracks are all original mixes of tracks from the main album, and are interesting but probably aren't going to be listened to more than once. The liner notes could have been better too. The lyrics are printed inside, along with a very brief note from Dave Hill. Some additional artwork, photos, or commentary (see Castle's excellent NWOBHM reissues) would have been a nice touch.

Edition Notes 2: The item you get when you order The Plague here is a CD-R, not a silver-pressed CD. I bought my copy before Amazon rolled out their "CD on Demand" program, so my rating is for the music, not the new format.

If you need a place to start in exploring NWOBHM bands... this is not a bad place to start. Well over looked by metal heads in the states, this was their only major label release on Atlantic. It's prog, it's metal... it's like Marillion smooshed into Queensryche or Iron Maiden. Well worth a listen!

A Demon's masterpiece. A conceptual album of bombastic symphonic prog-metal. Weird isn't it? A rare breed indeed: The music and story has a very british-industrial/foggy atmosphere, all the tracks succeed to fuse melodic and harsh structures with intense metal backgrounds that give life to this crude story about a somehow apocalyptic-decaying society, a warning scream on war, politics and institutions, society vices and corruption. Mike Hannan's art is dark and a nice complement to the experience. It was followed by the also excellent and more coloured "British Standard Approved