ROOT – Dema 2CD (PREORDER)

NB! This is a preorder item - Releasedate is May 4th 2026

Black Metal history written by the Czech messengers of darkness!

In 1988 two years prior to the iron curtain’s fall and at a time when playing Rock music could easily land you in jail for violating communist law, Jiří “Big Boss” Valter and Petr “Blackosh” Hošek decided to join forces to found ROOT. Adverse conditions and very low funds couldn`t prevent the eager bunch from marching forward, though. When Big Boss who wasn`t yet the band’s singer but played drums before switching to vocals for good on the fourth demo and ROOT’s guitarist Blackosh found the late Dr. Fe who did vocals on the first 3 demos and Dr. Zet on second guitar, ROOT were ready to strike.

During their initial pre-album stage ROOT managed to come up with 4 legendary demos before eventually releasing their debut album Zjeveni in 1990. Although influences from BATHORY and VENOM are apparent especially on the first 3 demos, ROOT – right from the start – managed to carve their own idiosyncratic niche. Thrashy riffs, a total lack of bass, stomping, primitive drums and Dr. Fe’s original Czech vocals are mingled with and interspersed by acoustic interludes, strange spoken word passages, incantations and samples from movies resulting in an eerie, off-kilter cocktail unheard of even today. It wasn’t until the fourth demo The Trial when Big Boss finally took over vocal duties that ROOT had finally found their unmistakable sound, though. In terms of songwriting and recording quality undoubtedly the best demo of the bunch, The Trial has everything ROOT would go on to develop further on their subsequent albums.

Exactly 10 years after ROOT’s tape box was released by Darkness Shall Rise we are extremely thrilled to offer you this luxurious compilation of the first 4 groundbreaking demos of one of Black Metal’s founding fathers on various formats.

For the first time ever all audio-files were restored and mastered from the original tapes by Patrick W. Engel.

2CD jewel-case, 32-page booklet. DARKNESS SHALL RISE PRODUCTIONS 2026

CD 1:
1. Intro (Beethoven Allegro) (Reap Of Hell 1988)
2. Litanie k Satanovi (Reap Of Hell 1988)
3. Sedm jezdců (Reap Of Hell 1988)
4. Píseň pro Satana (Reap Of Hell 1988)
5. Hřbitov (Reap Of Hell 1988)
6. 7 Synů Satana (War Of Rats 1988)
7. …a Země se otevřela (War Of Rats 1988)
8. Král Dogra (War Of Rats 1988)
9. Volání o pomoc (War Of Rats 1988)
10. Dogrova říše (War Of Rats 1988)
11. Intro (Příchod poslů) (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
12. Rootanův příchod (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
13. Poslové z temnot (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
14. Útěk a trest (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
15. 666 (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
16. Stín a prokletí (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
17. Otvírání hrobů (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
18. Prázdný hrob (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
19. Zrození Rootanova syna (Messengers From Darkness 1989)
18. Outro (Messengers From Darkness 1989)

CD 2:
1. Procitnutí I (Intro) (The Trial 1989)
2. Soud (The Trial 1989)
3. Zjevení (The Trial 1989)
4. Aralyon (The Trial 1989)
5. Výslech (The Trial 1989)
6. Upálení (The Trial 1989)
7. Cesta zkázy (The Trial 1989)
8. Procitnutí II (Outro) (The Trial 1989)
9. …a země se otevřela
10. Píseň pro Rootana
11. 7 černých jezdců
12. Volání o pomoc
13. Hřbitov