Category: Demo

Boys Club – Demo 1 – 1987

In 1987 when their Branded tour was over Gym and Sim from Undercover decided to form a new project and cut a couple demo’s. Ojo was off doing is own thing and took Gary with him. Gym and Sim were joined on Drums by Rod Learned (Berlin, yes that Berlin “Sex”) on Drums, Jeff Sheets (Dead Artist Syndrome) on Keyboards, and Fred MacGregor (no idea who he is) on Bass. There are a few tracks on the second demo that would appear on the 1990 Undercover release “Balance Of Power” but none of the tracks on this demo were ever heard again. This is all I know about this project. The demo itself has an excellent new wave feel and sound. I don’t understand why someone didn’t pick this album up and release it. The quality of the mix/production is as good as anything else that came out at the time. Maybe it was legal issues due to two members being signed to Broken Records but that’s just a guess. Anyway it’s a great demo and a treat for Undercover fans who want a little more.

Tracklist
1 – Never Been Here – 2:56
2 – I Love You – 3:04
3 – Whisper – 2:52
4 – Satisfied – 3:42
5 – Hungry For You – 3:41
6 – Kingdom Come – 3:11
7 – Once Is Never Enough – 3:35
8 – Betrayed – 2:35
9 – Passion On Parade – 3:51
10 – Love And Hate – 3:14

Credits
Bass – Fred MacGregor
Drums – Rod Learned
Keyboards – Jeff Sheets
Vocals, Guitar – Gym Nicholson
Vocals – Sim Wilson

Newsboys – [He’s Coming Back] – 1987

The Newsboys formed in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia in 1985. They called themselves “The News” but when recording their demo changed the name to Newsboys to avoid confusion with Huey Lewis and the News. They recorded this demo at Windsong Studios and sold it at their concerts. I have also heard that they did do some distribution at local Christian stores also. After it’s release they moved to the USA in search of fame and fortune. Well fame, there wasn’t much fortune in the industry except for the record companies. Several songs from this demo found their way onto later albums as their success and popularity rose. The band continues to go strong today making them one of the longest lasting band in CCM. This recording is from cassette so please forgive some of the poor audio.

Tracklist
1 – He’s Coming Back – 3:50
2 – Listen For The Shout – 3:35
3 – Stand Up – 4:20
4 – You’re Still There – 2:54
5 – Victory – 4:21
6 – It’s Joy – 3:32
7 – Read About It – 4:20
8 – He Died For You – 3:40

Credits
Bass – Sean Taylor
Drums – Peter Furler
Engineer – Kim Horne
Guitar – George Perdikis
Lead Vocals – John James
Lyrics By – John James, Peter Furler
Music By – George Perdikis, Sean Taylor

Companies, etc.
Engineered At – Windsong Studios

Katsbarnea – O Som que te faz Girar – 1989

Completely unbeknownst to me until very recently there was a huge CCM music scene in South America. Now of course the music was in Portuguese or Spanish but it was a huge scene that for some reason I had never heard of until I met friends though this project. This particular band was one of the big ones. This was their demo that they released in 1989. Apparently it sold very very well and it included future hits such as “Extra” and “Grito de Katsbarnea. The band actually had 12 members including a horns section but don’t let that fool you, this is a Rock & Roll band and a darn good one at that. The band went on to great success with multiple albums all the way until 2013. So if your looking to broaden your CCM knowledge give this one a listen. At least listen to the single “Extra” It’s actually a very good song.

Tracklist
1 – Contato
2 – Retrovisor
3 – Grito de Katsbarnea
4 – Etéreo
5 – Viagem da Oração
6 – Pacote Salvação
7 – Extra
8 – Corredor 18
9 – Salve a tua Paz
10 – Brisa

Credits
Brother Simion – vocal, guitarra rítmica e harmônica
Tchu Salomão – baixo e vocal em “Brisa”
Fábio – bateria
Paulinho Makuko – percussão e vocal em “Corredor 18”
Marquinhos – saxofone
André Mira – guitarra solo
Cláudia Bastos – vocal de apoio
Sandra Simões – vocal de apoio
Patrícia – teclado

The Lead – Automoloch – 1986

This demo from The Lead was released in 1986. From what I read the band had been together at this point for 2 years and this demo was released as well as the “Return Fire” demo in 1986 but I don’t know which demo came out first. I’ve read several reviews that the band started as a punk band and transitioned to Thrash Metal. This album is pretty early in their career and I don’t hear much punk, I think at this point they were strictly a thrash metal band. That said, my definitions of musical styles may not be yours. The interesting track on the album is a cover of Rez Band’s “Alienated”. It’s actually a pretty good cover and I was pleasantly surprised.

Tracklist
1 – No One’s an Atheist – 3:04
2 – XB – 3:07
3 – Sick Of This – 4:20
4 – You Don’t Need Him – 3:33
5 – Calling Out To You – 2:12
6 – Alienated – 1:46

Credits
Julio Rey – vocals, guitar
Robbie Christie – drums, vocals
Nina Llopis – bass, vocals

Divine Right – Tongues Of Fire – 1987

This is one of 3 demos from Divine Right who was really just Kevin Brandow playing all of the instruments. I couldn’t find out much about Kevin other than he joined Petra for their 1998 album, God Fixation. He is obviously a very talented musician as evidenced by him playing all the instruments on this demo which is no easy feat. The album has a Hard Rock/Metal feel and the songs themselves are first rate but the quality of the recordings is a bit questionable. This may or may not be a result of production but more likely it’s that the source copy was a cassette. Anyway head bangers give this one a listen, I bet you’ll like it.

Tracklist
1 – Tongues Of Fire
2 – On Guard
3 – Far Far Away
4 – One Way
5 – Mystery Uncovered
6 – Silent Victory
7 – Lightning

Credits
Cover Art – Julie Alvaro
Instruments and Vocals – Kevin Brandow
Mixed By – Mark Goyette
Produced By – Traci Leigh
Rhythm Guitar – Bob Alvaro

Damascus Road – I Am A Light Remix – 1982/2012

Damascus Road out of Georgia (not to be confused with Damascus Road out of Texas) recorded this little gem in 1982. Rumour mill says it was recorded with only 8 tracks and a quick listen leads me to believe that rumour. It has a southern rock sound and feel and would have been at home in any bar in the early 80’s. At times I can feel a bit of ZZ-Top and a bit of Skynard but this is a keyboard free Rock album. The original was only pressed with 500 copies but luckily the band remixed and re-released it in 2012 as a mp3 download.

Tracklist
1 – I am a Light – 4:03
2 – Thomas – 3:32
3 – Enter Into the Joy – 2:50
4 – Outer Darkness – 3:53
5 – Go Ye – 3:37
6 – Make It Home – 3:47
7 – Do You Have the Victory? – 3:33
8 – Cutting Edge – 3:29
9 – Hell – 4:32

Credits
Jimmy Dunn – Artwork, Composer, Guitar (Electric), Remixing, Slide Guitar, Vocals
Todd Geeting – Drums, Percussion
Kenny Lawrence – Composer, Guitar (Bass), Vocals

Apostle – Apostle – 1989

Apostle may be the biggest and/or best Metal bands to never have an album deal. It’s unknown why they never has an album deal but I’m gonna say I suspect it’s because they never got an offer they liked. The Florida based band had several demos which sold very well. I don’t remember seeing a group that had more demos over such a long period. As is common with demos there appears to be some confusion regarding this particular demo. Several sites show it as called “Metal for the Master” and was released in 1983. The cassette cover doers not show a title and has a copyright date of 1989 so that is the info I went with.

Tracklist
1 – King Of The Saints
2 – Overcomer
3 – Conquerors
4 – Born Again
5 – Parting The Red Sea
6 – Unlimited Power
7 – Armageddon
8 – King Of Kings
9 – Bread Of Life
10 – Holy Soldier

Credits
Bass – Mark Borrero
Drums – David Paul McKee
Vocals, Guitar – Matt Harding

Soldier – Babylon – 1988

Soldier formed in 1986 in the Bay area of California. They very quickly went into the studio and recorded their first demo “Louder Than Hell”. This is their second demo recorded in 1988. Soldier was very well received in the California CCM Metal scene. They had a cult following that stuck with them for years though the band broke up in 1988. Copies of their demo’s were next to impossible to find but Millenium Eight Records stepped up in 2002 and released both demo’s together on one CD (These tracks are from this CD). The CD must have sold well as Roxx Records released an anthology from Soldier in 2018. It includes almost everything, if not everything the band ever recorded.

Tracklist
1 – Babylon
2 – Louder Than Hell
3 – Deadly Weapon
4 – One Of A Kind
5 – Priceless Heart
6 – Where Have All The Children Gone
7 – King Of The City
8 – Borderline
9 – Angel
10 – First Time
11 – Promises

Credits
Drums – Al Whalen
Bass – Marc Allen
Guitars – Rick Hunter Martinez
Vocals – Jimmy Arceneaux

Inner Lite – Rockin’ The Faith – 1986

This demo appears to be all we got from Inner Lite and I don’t really know much about them. It’s a standard heavy metal album with the quality of the band being pretty good. The production quality isn’t the best but that could be because of the source being a cassette. None of the band (or producer) went on to do anything more that I can find so this will go down as one of those late 80’s Heavy Metal projects that didn’t take off.

Tracklist
1 – Live Eternally
2 – Open Your Eyes
3 – Rockin’ The Faith
4 – Perfect Love

Credits
Bass, Backing Vocals – Dan “Z-Man” Castro
Drums – Chris Powers (7)
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Nick Powers (3), Shiro Nobunaga
Lead Vocals – Billy Birkholz
Producer – Randy W. Brewer

Sacrament – Presumed Dead – 1989

Sacrament were one of the original Christian Thrash Metal bands. This was the demo that started it all for them. It was sold at their shows and apparently had pretty broad distribution. As for the music, I have no idea if it’s any good. I know nothing about thrash metal and can’t stand listening to it. If you like thrash metal this is probably a pretty good album judging from the positive reviews of it. The quality is a little off which is kind of strange for 1989 as technology was pretty advanced for producing demos. That said it just may be the copy I got. The original might be much better.

Tracklist
1 – Separate From Iniquity
2 – Assault (Satan’s Doom)
3 – Lies of The Blind
4 – Face Reality
5 – Presumed Dead

Credits
Bass – Eric Ney
Drums – Paul Graham
Producer – Frank Thompson
Guitar – Brian Toy, Mike Didonato
Vocals – Mike Torone