Timeghoul

I was lurking around on the Encyclopedia Metallum forums a little while ago and a band called Timeghoul was mentioned.  Finding the short descriptions of the band I found to be interesting, I decided to seek them out.

Timeghoul was around for quite a long time, emerging out of Missouri in the late 1980's.  But they only have two demos to their name and one release compiling the material.  So there is not a lot of recorded material out there to seek out on this band.  There have been a few bands that have released some incredibly influential demos without much else to their name.  Slaughter Lord and Necrovore certainly come to mind, and until recently there was Von.  I have not heard Timeghoul's name mentioned in the same circles, which I think is something of a shame.  It is possible I have simply not been paying enough attention though.

All that being said, Timeghoul certainly have an interesting sound.  I would probably equate them closely with Finnish underground death metal legends Demilich.  Timeghoul have an otherworldly style with spacy, angular riffs and science fiction-inspired lyrics.  The structures of the songs themselves can certainly not be called typical either.  As such, the length of the songs themselves can be quite long.  Timeghoul brought a lot of creativity into play in their take on death metal.  Much like the aforementioned Demilich.

The vocals are perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Timeghoul's sound.  Going from a creaking grunt, to a full-out roar, to some bizarre chanting is not out of the ordinary in these songs.  In fact some moments sound very much like a barbershop quartet is performing them.  It sounds completely odd, and yet fantastic at the same time.

It is a shame that Timeghoul was only able to put out a couple of demos.  It would have been nice to see if they could have brought the same level of creativity to a full release.  At the same time, I do not think it would be worthwhile for the band to reunite at this point to try it.  It might be too late.  These are certainly impressive demos but far too much time has passed.  It may feel like a cash grab.  Just look at what happened when Von finally released a full-length album and the backlash it caused.  It would be better for Timeghoul to stay where they are.  They certainly have an impressive legacy.