Album Review: Demonstealer – The Propaganda Machine (Black Lion Records)

Sahil Makhija, better known as Demonstealer has long been one of the pillars of the heavy metal scene in India. From being at the vanguard of a fledgling metal scene to becoming one of its most visible and respected proponents today, Sahil has been integral to the growth of the Indian metal community.

He now returns with his new album The Propaganda Machine, released 31st March via Sweden’s Black Lion Records. Featuring a stellar line-up of metal musicians across the globe, The Propaganda Machine is another chapter in the story of one of heavy music’s most tenacious underground legends.

New Demonstealer music always comes with much excitement. Not just because Sahil Makhija is stupidly talented but because he always brings it on these releases. The glorious sound of progressive, raging, technical, expansive, thought-provoking, and brutal heaviness. A delivery assisted by an insanely talented bevy of guests. This is the Demonstealer makeup and that doesn’t change with The Propaganda Machine.

An eight-track slab of monstrous intensity based around important topics, this is an inspired Sahil Makhija and it is reflected in an album that is a chaotic as it is measured. An album that is bad-mannered and bolstering in equal measures. Featuring some of metal’s finest musicians, Demonstealer may have laid the foundation for the metal scene in India but Sahil Makhija is now building upon that legacy.

Here, the mind-melting death-orientated intensity is on full and garish display from the start with the technical brilliance of The Fear Campaign and Monolith of Hate. Both these tracks are designed to dish out a lot of heavy punishment but are layered with so much instrumental detail, that it takes several listens to even start to unpack them. Whereas a track like the title track is shorter and simplified, and an unrelenting blast of violence.

It’s not easy to pick out one particular track that stands out from the rest, but if there is one, it’s probably The Art of Disinformation. Demonstealer sounding grander than ever, while also having a deeper, darker, and more aggressive sound then usual. What might seem ‘par for the course’ when it comes to the sound, quickly proves itself to be more feral, more frenzied, and more focused than usual.

The high bar set there is almost matched by the following Screams of Those Dying and the riff/drum combo of it, before The Great Dictator’s speed turns the spine into jelly, and The Anti-National hammers with all the force of Demonstealer’s intensity. Track after track of head-banging, circle-pit inducing, fist-pounding mayhem. Each layered with intricate detail that demands listen after listen to fully appreciate.

It’s such a strong album, such a strong Demonstealer album, that most will be more than willing to let it wash over them time and time again. Even more so when the brash and daringly epic finale of Crushing the Iron Fist is heard. An experimental finish that buoys the soul as only Demonstealer can.

Demonstealer – The Propaganda Machine Track Listing:

1. The Fear Campaign (feat. Hannes Grossmann, Dominic ‘Forest’ Lapointe, Anabelle Iratni & Dean Paul Arnold)
2. Monolith of Hate (feat. James Payne, Martino Garattoni & Anabelle Iratni)
3. The Propaganda Machine (feat. Ken Bedene, Stian Gundersen & Anabelle Iratni)
4. The Art of Disinformation (feat. Sebastian Lanser, Kilian Duarte, Alex Baillie & Anabelle Iratni)
5. Screams of Those Dying (feat. Hannes Grossmann, Dominic ‘Forest’ Lapointe & Anabelle Iratni)
6. The Great Dictator (feat. James Payne, Martino Garattoni & Anabelle Iratni)
7. The Anti-National (feat. Sebastian Lanser, Kilian Duarte & Anabelle Iratni)
8. Crushing the Iron Fist (feat. Ken Bedene, Stian Gundersen, Sanjay Kumar & Anabelle Iratni)

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