In the late 1980s, the former Czechoslovakia was an incubation chamber for some of the most unique and expressive extreme metal ever produced. Coinciding with the rise of death and black metal, the demise of Communism produced a fertile scene of disaffected youth eager to embrace these new radical modes of expression. By the end of the Communist era, the Iron Curtain had become culturally porous, permitting the influx of art and music from the West that catalyzed underground movements in Eastern Bloc countries. Filtered through a youth movement still shaking off the hangover of authoritarian policies, cultural isolation, and the promotion of Soviet values, the sights and sounds of the early Czech scene were unlike those emanating elsewhere in European. While bands such as Master's Hammer and Root are widely heralded now as progenitors of Czech black metal, a lesser known contemporary act called DAI fully embodied the same approach. The four demos collected on this double LP were recorded between 1989 and 1992, a transitional period for Czech society. Like the aforementioned bands, DAI's early recordings were primitive in some respects but displayed an idiosyncratic approach to black metal that sets them apart. And these demos by one of the most obscure Czech acts to emerge during black metal's second wave should be every bit as revered as the early recordings of Master's Hammer, Root and others. - J. Campbell
