'METAL CORE' Nr.18 / July 1994 (USA)
	*Reviewed by CHRIS FORBES

     There is just something I enjoyed about this demo.The group plays music that takes me back to 1985 and reminds me of a cross between AGENT STEEL and the 1st SLAYER album.The tunes are good catchy heavy tunes.If all groups were only this good.Production and packaging top notch also.

	'TERRORIZER' MAG. Nr.19 / April (U.K.)
	*Reviewed by RUSS SMITH
	Rating:3/5 (='Promising,worth checking out')
	DESPISE

     From the very start of this tape you can hear that DESPISE are inspired by mid 80's Thrash Metal, and SLAYER in particular! They have been around since 1986 however. SLAYER infiltrates every pore of this band, coming across like a 'South Of Heaven' period version of the band. Makis Dedes has perfected his Tom Araya vocals very well, even getting the man's screams exactly right, such as on opener, 'State of Brutality'. The band's structures, the drumming, the soloing, all remind me of SLAYER, through and through. It could never be as good, but nice try all the same! The band play well, and they are certainly tight, but I feel they have a bit of an identity crisis at hand. There are lots of riffs that sound very similar to their influence. I enjoyed it all the same, so what am I moaning about really? All the 4 tracks are well recorded and this comes with a colour cover and lyrics. If you're into SLAYER I would fork out $5, plus 1 IRC, and get this tape.

	'BUTTFUCK' ZINE Nr.5 / Sept. 1993 (GREECE)
	*Reviewed by R.F.
	DESPISE-STATE OF BRUTALITY

     This is an amazing release, an amazing debut from DESPISE, Greece's best kept secret. It took them several years to complete and present their work, but it well worthed the delay. They should be proud for this demo. It is excellent from every point of view. The production belongs to them and the recording was done with their own equipment. Well, who gives a fuck about famous studios and producers when they are able to give us such a masterpiece without their help. They are playing American Thrash, the good old way. And not only they are playing it well but they are ready to achieve a place at the top. This demo could have been a recording by... SLAYER! Yes, I am honestly telling you the truth! Yes, me, a dedicated and die hard fan of SLAYER for many years is the one making this statement: DESPISE are just a stage below the Kings themselves! It is impossible to describe properly the majesty of their material. Their songs could be unreleased stuff from SLAYER, from different periods of their history. Since words are not enough, I will not say anything else. Just buy your bloody copy and believe! Give DESPISE the time and the budget and you '11 get an absolute all times masterpiece. It 's just a matter of time, because they have the will and they can wait in order to achieve perfection. A copy will cost you $5 + 1 I.R.C.; real peanuts for its value, so what are you waiting for?

	'CHAOTIC CRITIQUES' ZINE Nr.3 / Winter 1994 (CANADA)
	*Reviewed by TATE BENGSTON
	Rating:14/20
	Despise State of Brutality

     Hard 'n heavy, straight from the depths of Athens, Greece, pounds the manic thrash motives of Despise, who have based their sound around the trustworthy "big guitars + screeching vocals = intensity". Though the thrash genre has literally been beaten into the ground and used as fertilizer by the music industry, there is still a glimmer of life behind its glassy eyes, a spark awaiting the chance to be quelled into a flame. While Despise fails to add anything new to this somewhat dated recipe in cacophony, they do incorporate that invigorating energy and harnessed insanity that all the best releases from the 80's possessed. Reminding of premiere Canadian thrashers Sacrifice (recently dropped from the Metal Blade roster - on that happy note about the livelihood of said genre, back to the program ...) in both vocals and music,Despise successfully fuse heavy strong structures and riffs to pacify the yearning of even the most selective thrasher. The band bio states that they have based their sound around American thrash, an admirable foundation, though peppering it with other musical influences not usually associated with thrash would propel this band into the upper echelons of their sound. Musically a formidable force, they obviously know their chops backwards and forwards, so now it's just a case of developing the odd blunter edge to contrast the sharp cuts that ...Brutality possesses. For now, this four-song demo is an impressive showcase of their abilities and should appeal to fans of the thrash genre. Despise have shown that they possess a surfeit of instrumental skill, the next step is developing a more up-to-date sound. Nonetheless, this is a veritable powerhouse, and should be taken as such.