Deranged were a death/thrash band from Victoria BC who had their second EP, Place Of Torment, reissued by Supreme Echo in 2021; now the label has put together Deranged's first demo along with the four incredible Place Of Torment tracks for this definitive remastered collection. And even if you have the Place Of Torment reissue, this is worth getting: side A is the five-song Premonotory Nightmare demo from 1988, which is more rough around the edges production-wise, but has an outrageous amount of heart and soul, the band playing as hard as they possibly can to get these Sadus-meets-Slayer tracks to your earholes. 

Opener “Never Again”'s absurd screech 'n' squalor is overflowing with youthful energy, an amazing time capsule that, importantly, still sounds great today. “No Escape (For The Living)” showcases a catchy groove, while awesome instrumental “Bury The Hatchet” is prime death/thrash, fretboards on fire, drummer racing to keep up with everything, just this side of chaos. 

Side B is 1989's Place Of Torment, and is remixed by Kurt Ballou, so it sounds absolutely massive, definitely a step ahead of side A in terms of songwriting and production quality, “Eminence Of Terror” immediately showing a huge boost in confidence and maturity, “Before Your Eyes” unrelenting with the double-bass thrashing, all the songs total winners up there with the best in the subgenre. 

And, play 'em side by side, the audio quality is even better here than on the initial reissue, things loud but balanced better. Look, when the hype sticker has quotes from Sam Dunn and George Stroumboulopoulos, you know this is noteworthy. And, also, I dunno, with a new Hellwitch also out there right now, could this release signal a death/thrash summer and resurgence?