NOCTURNUS to release cult demos collection, play special early-years concert‏‎

Nuclear War Now! Productions announces March 13th as the international release date for Nocturnus‘ The Science of Horror collection. Although he played a pivotal role in the emergence of the early U.S. death metal movement as both a co-founder of Morbid Angel and a member of Incubus in the mid-to-late 1980s, Mike Browning’s legacy is most inextricably tied to his involvement in Nocturnus in the late ’80s and early ’90s. In 1990, Nocturnus revolutionized death metal with the release of its first full-length album, The Key, which, for the first time in the history of the subgenre, incorporated keyboards as an essential element of a death metal band’s sound. During a critical three-year period prior to the release of this album, Nocturnus developed this unique sound, as documented by two demo recordings, entitled Nocturnus and The Science of Horror, which were disseminated on cassette format in typically limited numbers in 1987 and 1988, respectively. The second of these demos, in particular, contains embryonic versions of several songs that would eventually be re-recorded for inclusion on The Key. However, as tends to be the case with demo recordings, these versions represent a significantly more primitive musical vision as compared to the more polished recordings on the ensuing album.

In celebration and commemoration of the Nocturnus appearance at the NWN! Fest Vol. IV in November of 2014, Nuclear War Now! first offered a reissue of both Nocturnus demos on a single picture LP, limited to 100 copies and only available at the festival. Following closely on the heels of this picture-disc reissue, Nuclear War Now! is proud to once again offer both demos together on a single vinyl release, aptly titled The Science of Horror. Like the picture LP, this reissue of both demos recaptures the raw spirit of those early recordings, with the audio having been sourced directly from the original reels for the ultimate in quality of sound reproduction. In anticipation of the upcoming Nocturnus gig in San Francisco on March 13th – where the band will play a special old-school set mostly consisting of The Key, three songs from the Incubus demo, and more surprises – 250 copies of this newest version on red vinyl LPs with jackets showcasing the original artwork from the demo cassettes will first be available to those attending the concert. Later this year, Nuclear War Now! will release a less-limited standard vinyl edition featuring appropriately and tastefully updated original artwork from the renowned Zbigniew Bielak. Cover and tracklisting are as follows: