Usurper: Threshold of the Usurper (1997)

Those with a short attention span may have forgotten that I talked about Usurper just yesterday.  And this won't be the last time either.  No, I did not pick up a box set.  It just so happened that the seller that I bought yesterday's Usurper album from had a couple of others, so I checked them all out. 

Yesterday I talked a lot about just how much Usurper sounded like Celtic Frost.  Well, this release came out just two years before, and yet, it sounds very different.  The Celtic Frost influence is still very much present, but there is a lot more going on too.  And that makes this EP that much more entertaining than the subsequent full-length.

Opening track "Necrocult, Part 1 (The Metal War)" is a full-on aural assault and sets the tone for the rest of the album.  The band later on attempts a Mercyful Fate cover.  I have written before about how I feel about bands attempting Mercyful Fate covers: I'm usually against them.  The major issue is that virtually no one can pull off the King Diamond vocals.  This one does not do it either, so Usurper vocalist General Diabolical Slaughter (likely not his real name) does not even try.  Otherwise the cover is fine. 

The best track on the EP is "The Dead of Winter".  This is a lengthy, slow-burning track of atmospheric horror.  The keys in particular are eerie and dark, and continue throughout the song, even during the crunching riffs. 

I actually like this EP quite a bit more than the album I reviewed yesterday, and I definitely liked that album.  Usurper is not as much of a Celtic Frost clone on this EP.  They have their own sound and style, and that is always preferred.

Usurper: Usurper II: Skeletal Season (1999)

Recently I heard about a band called Usurper whom I had never heard of before.  I cannot remember quite what I heard about them, but it was probably something about them being a particularly aggressive brand of blackened thrash metal.  And that they were from Chicago, a city that has given the genre a rather impressive collection of terrific metal bands (Trouble, Cianide, Ministry, Novembers Doom, many many more).  So I figured why not check them out.

So first things first, I think it is plainly obvious that Usurper is named after the Celtic Frost song from To Mega Therion.  I say that because it is quite clear that Celtic Frost and Hellhammer are the primary influences on Usurper's sound.  To the point that Usurper sounds like a clone of the legendary Swiss bands, particularly from the pre-Into the Pandemonium.  Every single aspect is present, from the meaty, aggressive riffing style to the Tom Warrior-esque vocals.  Hell, singer Rick Scythe even employs some of Warrior's trademarked grunting vocalizations.  There are times where the band takes on more of a doom-laden, grinding, slow-paced approach, but at those times they sound more like Coffins, a band whose sound I have described as half-speed Celtic Frost.

I guess the easiest way to tell if this album is recommended is whether or not someone enjoys Celtic Frost.  Well, every metalhead SHOULD like early Celtic Frost.  That is the era that Usurper is actively aping on this release.  And they do a damn fine job of it.  There is nothing wrong with them sounding like this if it is sincere.  And Usurper does just enough re-working riffs to distinguish themselves and avoid being dismissed as a copycat.

Absu: Tara (2001)

I mentioned in the first Absu post that they are possibly the most famous black metal band to come from the United States.  There are other bands like Leviathan and Xasthur that have been hugely influential and may challenge Absu, but I think Absu is probably ahead.  Now, after listening to the first three albums, it may not be immediately clear why Absu is so revered.  Those releases are certainly good, but do not have the feel of groundbreaking releases.  And then we come to Tara.

It is clear right from the beginning that this album is a fucking beast.  It starts off with a short bagpipe introduction, but that moment of calm and serenity is to be short-lived because the band immediately hits the throttle and takes off and there is barely a moment of rest for the duration of the album.  There are a few instrumental interludes that break things up, just enough for the listener to take a break, but these are short and far between.  Then things kick back up.  This album is a steamroller.

The closest approximation to their sound I can draw is to say that they sound like Slayer, if they were playing songs by Mayhem.  The band is striking at full speed, with rampaging riffs and artillery-fire shock-and-awe drumming.  The vocals are mostly an afterthought, usually delivered in a black metal rasp, but they are somewhat low in the mix.  The riffs and drumming are the important parts.  I am not even sure how it is humanly possible to play the drums like Proscriptor.  Some songs, such as "She Cries the Quiet Lake", even have something of a Middle Eastern rhythm to their madness, sounding a bit like Melechesh.

This album will leave the listener breathless after it is done.  It is a full-speed-ahead tour de force of manic drumming and sharp riffs.  This is easily a career highlight album from Absu and is the release I will point to as the beginning point for Absu.  Subsequent releases were attempts to recapture this magic, to varying degrees of success.  This album deserves its lofty place as a landmark in U.S. black metal, it is damn near a perfect album.  Unfortunately, Absu called it quits earlier this year.  A shame.

Absu: The Third Storm of Cythrául (1997)

Absu is largely considered one of the pre-eminent black metal bands from the United States.  Despite this, only a couple of their albums are considered genre classics.  A lot of their other releases are somewhat neglected.  The band's fourth album Tara casts a long shadow over their other releases, which is not totally fair.

The third album from Absu sees the band experimenting with another new stylistic shift.  This time around, Absu abandoned a lot of the more unusual elements in favor of a much more straightforward blackened thrash attack.  The band alternates between lengthy epics and short, aggressive songs that speed by in the blink of an eye.  The band has really come into their own on this release, even if they have changed much of the sound that made their prior releases so good.  It is a much more simple sound rooted in extreme thrash metal like Possessed and Slayer, but with some black metal elements still hanging around. 

This is a terrific album that has been unfortunately overshadowed by the band's next release.  While it is true that the band has abandoned a lot of the unusual and unpredictable elements, they have been replaced with a sheer, aggressive brutality.  And since this particular brand of no-holds-barred blackened thrash is one of my favorite styles of metal, this album in particular grabs my attention.

Absu: The Sun of Tiphareth (1995)

With Absu's second album, released two years after their debut, they seemingly settled on a sound, even if it is still a strange combination of disparate styles.  At least on this album it is a little more coherent and consistent in its execution.  That being said there are still some strange elements thrown in at times.

For the most part, this is a Scandinavian-sounding black metal release.  The fact that it comes from a band in the northern part of Texas, as different from Sweden and Norway as is possible, is a complete surprise.  Even moreso given the time period it was released.  This was still a time when black metal was decidedly underground.

Several of the songs here are rather lengthy, going through a number of movements and not content to stay the same.  It is an ambitious attempt to make something truly groundbreaking, or at least something that stands out among the black metal scene.  And with random elements such as clean, female vocals and, oddly enough, Celtic melodies and rhythms, it does certainly make an impression.

Added to the musical elements, there is also the somewhat bizarre lyrical subject matter.  Sumerian mythology, Celtic mythology and even esoteric Satanic philosophy intermingle in sort of a bizarre conceptual soup.  It doesn't quite work.  Nevertheless, Absu deserve props for trying something new.

Absu has yet to fully hit their stride, but they are headed in that direction on this release.  This shows a young band not afraid to try something new, even if it doesn't quite go as the band planned.  This is still an interesting and entertaining release.

Absu: Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (1993)

I covered this release very briefly when I first received a copy of it some time ago, but that was just a small paragraph.  This time around, I received it when I picked up an Absu box set, so I will be taking a closer look at it.

Absu is one of the most famous black metal bands from the U.S.  The band has a distinctive sound that is an electrifying mix of black metal and thrash metal.  On most of their releases anyway.  Spurred by the inhuman and maniacal drumming of Proscriptor, their music is fast and intense, but with an eerie, occult atmosphere. 

This is Absu's debut album and it is significantly different than their later albums would be.  The primary musical style here is more of a death metal take on Celtic Frost's Into the Pandemonium, complete with some of the more unusual elements that made that album so unpredictable.  There are multiple moments where operatic, female vocals shine through and other more ambient passages.  These moments come across as strange and unexpected, but actually serve the music reasonably well.  There are several songs where Absu's later black metal-oriented sound shines through, but these are in the minority, compared to the crushing death metal songs.

Absu was still finding their way with this release, and it is not one of the albums frequently mentioned when discussing the works of the band.  Nevertheless, there is something intriguing about the album.  It works, even though there is nothing else like it in the band's catalog.

Black Hole: Land of Mystery (1985)

I have mentioned before that one of the things that I absolutely love about being a metalhead is seeing some of the devoted, underground labels unearth a forgotten album and re-releasing it so that new fans can hear it.  Hells Headbangers has made a lot of headway in this respect.  Without them, I would not have come across Black Death, among others.  Black Hole is another of these bands, though I was not aware of that at first.

This album really surprised me when I first listened to it.  I had not done any research on the band when I first listened to the album and I was shocked by how much they sounded like Ghost.  In fact, I figured they were some band that was taking Ghost's sound and running with it since the band has been steadily working their way into the mainstream.  Imagine my surprise when I released that this album was released nearly a quarter century before Ghost's debut album.

The sound on this album is heavily rooted in latter Ozzy-era Black Sabbath with some Blue Öyster Cult thrown in for good measure.  The band makes heavy usage of organs, giving the sound an eerie, occult atmosphere, like a dusty, old 70's cult horror movie.  In addition, the bass guitar is a primary melodic instrument, propelling most of the songs forward.  As if the music were not enough to draw comparisons to Ghost's Opus Eponymous, there are the dry vocals that sound exactly like Tobias Forge's work.

The songs are all a bit lengthy, each one lasting more than six minutes.  At points in a few songs, the band kind meanders a little too much dragging down the momentum a bit.  The atmosphere continues to be spooky, but it kind of loses something in those moments.

It is amazing how an album from 1985 can sound simultaneously retro and be ahead of its time.  I do not want to mention that other band again in this review, because it is clear that Black Hole came first and their sound is based on Black Sabbath instead.  The album really did take me by surprise and it is the perfect soundtrack for a cheesy, cult horror movie.

Goathammer: Ceremony of Morbid Destruction (2018)

Goathammer is not a band I was familiar with until receiving this release as a freebie when I placed an order for a box set that will be reviewed shortly.  Goathammer is a Canadian band (Saskatchewan) who has been around for less than ten years.  This is their first full-length after a number of demos and splits.

Well, what the hell do you think a band named Goathammer is going to sound like?  This is blistering blackened death metal with ugly, hateful riffs, rumbling drums and raspy, roared vocals.  There is a significant Mayhem influence, to the point that opening track "Arcane Destruction Spell" sounds like it would have fit well on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.  Other points of reference include Inquisition, with their esoteric, evil lyrics and infusion of death metal elements to their Mayhem-worship. 

This is a rather short release, but it contains all of the hallmarks of a good blackened death metal album, all of the brutality and evil alike.  It does not really do a lot to stand out from the pack in a way that stays with the listener, but it is a rather intense listen while it is playing. 

Ashdautas: Where the Sun is Silent... (2007)

Some time ago I reviewed a release by Volahn, a band that is part of the association of Southern California bands known as the Black Twilight Circle.  Ashdautas is another member of the group of bands and, in fact, features Volahn himself on guitar, along with a number of other musicians who appear in several of these bands.

Along with their association with Volahn, the album cover grabbed my attention and convinced me to give this a shot.  The artwork is from Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński, whose works appear on a number of metal albums.  For good reason.  Just look at that thing.

The music here is lo-fi, raw and hateful black metal with shrieking lead guitars and chaotic song structures.  The atmosphere is oppressive and suffocating and the vocals are delivered in a ghastly wail.  The production is kind of muddy making the music a little unclear, but it has something of an authentic black metal feel to it that way, and it definitely adds to the dark atmosphere.  The songs sort of run together, so one really has to pay attention to discern when one song ends and the next one begins.  Again, this adds to the effect because there is no real reprieve from the harsh and overpowering atmosphere.  There are moments of lighter guitar melodies, but these just sound eerie and strange in light of everything else.  The whole release has a brutal feeling of doom and gloom seeping through every note.

This was my second look at the Black Twilight Circle, but it was largely the impetus to look further into other bands.  Ashdautas sticks out as one of the more complete bands in the scene and this EP is a perfect introduction to them.

Unleash the Archers: Apex (2017)

Canada has a long and rich tradition of terrific heavy metal.  And I am not referring simply to thrash metal bands like Sacrifice, Razor and Slaughter or to death metal bands like Cryptopsy and Kataklysm.  I am referring to heavy and speed metal bands like Exciter, Anvil, Thor and others.  Bands that wave the the traditional metal banner proudly.  Enter Unleash the Archers.

This album is my first experience checking out Unleash the Archers, despite the fact that I have been aware of them for several years.  I am not sure why I avoided them, possibly due to the name which called to mind some sort of metalcore band.  But as I listen to them, I realize the band whose name most closely resembles this band is fellow British Columbians 3 Inches of Blood.  The sound is pretty damn close too.  Now I realize that they were never really well-liked in the metal underground, but I fucking loved 3 Inches of Blood, so hearing Unleash the Archers on this album and hearing all of the similarities, the album really grabbed me.

The sound is absolutely epic, filled to the brim with lightning-fast riffs, infectious choruses and shredding, neoclassical solos.  The riffs have some bite to them, not at all like European-style power metal.  The vocals too deserve mention.  The band has one lead vocalist and her style is melodic, yet powerful, and it is accentuated by two of the musicians who provide harsh vocals.  The result of all of this is an aggressive, yet extremely melodic sound.

My understanding is that Unleash the Archers has not always been as impressive as they are on this release.  I do not know if I will check out any of their earlier material, but this album is terrific.  I am definitely glad I gave them a chance.

Gatecreeper: Deserted (2019)

Desert-born death metallers Gatecreeper took the death metal world by storm with their debut Sonoran Depravation.  Their crusty, d-beat-brand of Dismember worship was fresh and chaotic, with just enough originality to resist falling into the trap of being a copycat.  And so it was that Gatecreeper's sophomore release was highly anticipated.

I want to start by saying I do enjoy this album quite a bit.  That being said, it is something of a step backwards for the band.  The Dismember influences are still very much intact and some of the songs do a fantastic job of capturing the crushing, chaotic nature of the legendary Swedish band.  Songs like "Barbaric Pleasures", "Puncture Wounds" and the appropriately-named "Ruthless" are guaranteed to break some necks.

Unfortunately, too many of the songs settle into a mid-paced groove, rather than the neck-snapping whirlwind of riffs of the aforementioned songs.  The result is an album that mostly sounds safe.  Death metal is many things, but it absolutely is not supposed to be safe.  It is a perfectly fine album, but it does not push any boundaries and the album suffers compared to the band's debut.

Again, I do enjoy this album, though it is not nearly as impressive as Gatecreeper's debut.  I saw the band live and they do recapture some of the lost energy on these songs live.  A live album would be an interesting release from the band.  Hopefully this is just a sophomore slump and the band will come back all guns blazing on the next one.

Thou Art Lord: The Regal Pulse of Lucifer (2013)

To date, this is the last full-length album released by Thou Art Lord.  And thus it is also the last post in my series here on the band.  One thing I have learned from going over the major releases from Thou Art Lord is that no successive albums sound the same.  And that continues to be the case with this last release.

For the most part this release is similar to the last album and their first album.  That is to say that is a thrashier version of Hellenic black metal.  Particularly on the first couple of songs, "Nine Steps to Hell" and "Πολιτεία δαιμόνων".  The latter track is a full-throttle, pounding tour de force.  The typical Hellenic black metal riffing style is ever-present as always.  I do have to mention the use of the Game of Thrones theme in "Fire and Blood".  At first I was not quite sure I was really hearing it and listened over again.  Sure enough, the band is actually using the opening credits theme to Game of Thrones.

There are some stark differences between this album and the previous one though.  First of all, the keyboard flourishes return on this release, so it is not nearly as stripped-down and organic.  Secondly, the band utilizes some spoken word sections and samples to help tell a greater story, almost certainly about the power of Satan.  But rather than being distracting, these elements serve to accentuate the songs, causing them to stand out more than some of the band's previous releases.  And what results is quite possibly the band's strongest release.

This is probably Thou Art Lord's best album.  The band is no longer a Rotting Christ clone and have forged their own path.  It is a shame that the band has not released anything since this album.  I guess maybe they saved their best for last.

Thou Art Lord: Orgia Daemonicum (2005)

Now featuring only Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ and Magus from Necromantia, Thou Art Lord's sound has become similarly sparse and streamlined.  Sure there are a few session musicians, mostly the drums and a couple of guys providing additional vocals, though only one of them is reasonably well-known (Linos from Ravencult).  So once again, this is a significantly different release than that which came before.

The sound this time around is much more of a return to the band's demo and debut album.  It is more of a simple combination of Hellenic black metal blackened thrash metal.  A lot of the flourishes from keyboards and gothic elements have been abandoned in favor of the more aggressive approach.  As a result, this album sounds much more like the early 1990's sound of Rotting Christ.  In addition, Tolis and Magus have taken on more of the vocal duties, so there are songs on this release that are indistinguishable from Rotting Christ.

It seems that with each release Thou Art Lord have altered their sound in some fundamental way thus far.  This one is much more of a return to the sound they have when they started and is all the better for it.  While I enjoyed their previous album, I do think this is their best since their debut.  

Thou Art Lord: DV8 (2002)

It was six years between releases for Thou Art Lord.  I do not believe they broke up or anything, but at some point the band was less of a priority for the members.  I will admit to being a little skeptical about how this release would sound given the ridiculous title.  The fear that they had gone in a gothic/industrial/nu-metal direction was high.  But I still dove in.

This one is weird.  I think that is the best way to explain it.  The band once again goes in a number of directions.  Opening track "A Chaldean Hex" sounds very much like modern-day Behemoth, which is sort of weird because not even Behemoth sounded like modern-day Behemoth in 2002.  There are of course other songs that carry on the Hellenic sound and could have fit in well on any Rotting Christ album.  The best examples are "Crowning the Winged Skull" and "Desire, Lust and Incubus".

There are some truly weird moments as well.  The clean vocal section of "Baphomet's Meteor" sounds Marilyn Manson-esque.  "Society of the Dilletanti" has an almost groove metal stomping rhythm to the riffs.  The vocals too run the gamut between blackened shrieking to an almost death metal roar at times.  Set of Septicflesh is contributing lead vocals on this release, which explains a lot of the dynamics.  He has always been a highly gifted extreme metal singer and he is at the top of his game here.  It is not at all surprising that three members of the band contribute vocals, and yes, it is really obvious when Sakis Tolis is singing.

At this point, Thou Art Lord has truly become a super-group.  Now featuring the familiar members of Rotting Christ and Necromantia, they have added the vocal talents from Septicflesh and a widely-traveled drummer who has been in basically every Greek extreme metal band.  What results is an extremely varied, yet highly entertaining album.  I still do not think they have surpassed their debut, but this is definitely better than the last one.

Thou Art Lord: Apollyon (1996)

With Thou Art Lord's second full-length album the band shook off most of the similarities to related band Rotting Christ.  Thou Art Lord branched off into several different directions all at once, crafting a unique but somewhat inconsistent album. 

There are a lot of things going on in this album and overall it is far more streamlined.  Early tracks possess something of a Swedish death metal sound, in particular the heavier more brutal bands like Unleashed.  There are also still several tracks that have that familiar Hellenic black metal sound, like "Excremental Magic".  Those tracks still possess the riffing style familiar to Hellenic black metal, just sped up somewhat and aggressive where they were traditionally done in a more atmospheric style.  Then there is the mostly instrumental, "He, Whom the Gods Hath Feared", which seems extremely out of place given its soft, gothic nature that would fit in better on a mid period Tiamat album than a Thou Art Lord release.  Still other songs have gone in a decidedly blackened thrash metal direction, sounding much more like Aura Noir than the Hellenic sound the band exhibited before. 

This album suffers from a lack of identity.  It is clear that the band was trying to move away from being Rotting Christ Jr., but somewhere in that effort, the band lost the sound that made them so damn good in the first place.  I am happy to see the band trying to forge their own identity, but in so doing they sort of lost their identity.  I guess that is a vicious cycle.

Thou Art Lord: Eosforos (1994)

Here we have Thou Art Lord's first full-length album, and by and large the band did not mess with the formula from the first demo.  This release still sounds very close to the Rotting Christ sound of the time period, which again makes sense given the heavy involvement of Sakis Tolis.  In addition, the opening track from the demo "The Era of Satan Rising" also appearing here to close out the album.

Despite all of that, this release does show Thou Art Lord ever so slightly starting to differentiate their sound from Rotting Christ.  There is a bit more of a death metal-esque chugging to some of the riffs.  The vocals too are a little more gruff as well, though there are certainly moments where Tolis provides backing vocals that it comes back to that sound.  Otherwise the same elements that make the early Rotting Christ albums are present here: atmospheric and eerie riffs, spooky keyboards, and gruff vocals. 

Thou Art Lord's first full-length album is an extension of their incredible demo, with even better production and more songs.  The best song from the demo is also still present.  This is an extremely strong example of Hellenic black metal, up there with the best of Rotting Christ and Varathron.

Thou Art Lord: The Cult of the Horned One (1993)

As might be guessed from the name of the album, this is no Christian band like those on the compilation from Sunday's subject.  This is a return to the Hellenic black metal scene that I was talking about with the series on Varathron last week.  And since this is another box set, readers will likely grow sick of reading about Thou Art Lord for the next week.

This is my first experience listening to Thou Art Lord, well with this box set anyway.  I had heard a lot about them, particularly in my forays into the Hellenic black metal scene, but had just not gotten around to checking them out.  Well here was my chance.

My first thought upon listening to this release was "Holy crap these guys sound like Rotting Christ".  The point of reference for this release was Rotting Christ's 1993 album Thy Mighty Contract and their 1994 album Non-Serviam.  Now those are two particular favorite albums of mine from the band so I was fully on board.  Thou Art Lord has the same kind of atmospheric riffing that is at once uncompromising in its aggressiveness and eerily melodic.  Filled to the brim with tremolo riffs and incendiary leads, the release would be almost perfect if it was just a bit longer.  Alas there are only three songs on this demo.  Such a shame.

I was curious though about just why this sounds SO MUCH like Rotting Christ, so I did some research on the band and facepalmed when I saw that Thou Art Lord was started as a side project between Necromantia's George Zacharopoulos under the pseudonym "Morbid" and, of course, Sakis Tolis from Rotting Christ under the pseudonym "Necromayhem".  So that's it.

This demo is terrific.  Plus, it has the added benefit, for those curious to hear why I rave so much about Rotting Christ but concerned for their everlasting soul enough to steer clear of a band with that name, of having a vaguely Christian-sounding name.  So there you go.

Gallower: Witch Hunt is On (2015)

This release was a throw-in when I ordered yesterday's Cemetery Urn and the next several releases.  I had not heard of Gallower before receiving this.  I do have to say though that this is one of the best freebies I have ever received, certainly better than that damn Christian metal compilation from Sunday.  I will be tracking down Gallower's other releases in the near future.

Witch Hunt is On is the Polish band's first release, a demo that sounds like the band has been recording albums for years.  It is polished in a very raw sort of way, in that the band is obviously talented, but the riffs have an intense and savage ferocity.  Add to that the extreme speed and this release sounds like the early recordings of groups like Sodom, Destruction and Possessed.  The only complaint I have is the vocals could use a bit more variety, but they do really fit the music.

I was truly impressed with this demo, in a way that has not happened frequently with new groups.  Gallower has put out a couple of other releases and I will definitely be tracking them down.  This is awesome.

Cemetery Urn: Barbaric Retribution (2018)

I am a big fan of Hells Headbangers Records.  Every few months or so, I go to their site and order a bunch of their new releases.  The label definitely has a typical sound, of sorts.  They tend to release works by bands that incorporate influences from death, black and thrash metal, along with a fair amount of punk influence.  This sound tends to grab my attention.  And so it was that I ended up grabbing this release.

The Australian band is decidedly more death metal in their approach, but it is a dark and grimy form of occult death metal that has much more in common with groups like Angelcorpse and their countrymen in Bestial Warlust and Abominator (which makes sense since the guitarist was in BOTH bands, and I wrote this before seeing that).  It is a thunderous and grotesque sound with skull-crushing riffs.  There is a ton of bottom end to the sound too, making the riffs sound dense and murky.  The vocals too are extreme, even for this form of metal.  They are deep and guttural with a swampy tone to them as well.  What results is a tremendously heavy album, in all the right ways.

If there is a problem with the release it is that the songs tend to run together a little bit and there is not often something that truly stands out.  Cemetery Urn seems more concerned with completely pummeling the listener than with writing something truly memorable.  And thus the band can kind of get lost among other bands that perform a similar style.

All that being said, this is a suitably punishing album for occult death metal.  Australia has once again delivered a quality extreme metal band.  The country is well-known for its extreme metal scene and Cemetery Urn is yet another example of that. 

Nasty Savage: Nasty Savage (1985)

This album is something of an underrated gem.  I suspect much of the reason that Nasty Savage has gone by unnoticed by so many is the fact that they were really not part of any actual scene.  Arriving in the mid 1980's, at a time when thrash metal was rising to power, they formed in Florida.  Not the Bay Area.  Not New York.  Not even Canada or Germany.  So they flew in under the radar.

The music here is terrific. fast-paced traditional metal with some thrash metal riffs and air raid siren vocals.  There is nothing exceptionally technical here or really anything that makes the band stand out all that much.  They do not do anything super original.  It is just well-crafted, catchy metal riffs.  The songwriting really deserves some credit because each of the songs sticks with the listener long after the album is over. 

The vocals are the star here.  The lead singer Nasty Ronnie is exceptional.  He has a wide vocal range that he uses to great effect throughout the album.  For much of the album, he uses a mid-range style frequently used in thrash metal, but he can unleash some truly blood-curdling shrieks at times.  He also has a lower-pitched gruff style that he uses at other moments.  Nasty Ronnie almost single-handedly keeps the album entertaining through his varied vocal approach.

This album is one reason why I like tracking down Metal Blade releases from the 1980's.  There are so many gems from that time period and the label really did a fantastic job finding talented bands, even if very few of them went on to stardom.  This is yet another of those gems that Metal Blade had so many of during the 1980's.

Intense Records: An Intense History of Christian Metal (1992)

I received this compilation as a throw-in when I bought yesterday's subject, the Original Sin album.  I can only surmise that the seller was concerned about my immortal soul and decided to try to turn me on to some Christian metal.  Well, I am not close-minded so I figured I would give this thing a shot.  I don't have a problem with Christian metal really, if the music is good.  Unfortunately that is often tough to find.  The big problem with Christian metal, and Christian music in general, is that often the message outweighs the musical ability.  So will that be true of these bands?  We will see.  This could go really poorly for me.

Here we go.

TOURNIQUET: "You Get What You Pray For"

Tourniquet is one of the few bands on this compilation that I was aware of previously.  I had a friend in high school that had a couple of their albums.  They struck me as okay, but not really anything special, but at least they were not terrible.  I have not heard them since, so I was actually kind of interested to revisit them.  The song features a decent speed metal riff, but the vocals are pretty terrible, particularly during the chorus, and this is one of those songs that hits you in the face with the message.  So no, I did not particularly care for my second time around hearing this band.

DELIVERANCE: "Weapons of Our Warfare"

This one on the other hand is pretty decent.  The song is sort of a heavy thrash metal song, something akin to early Testament.  The vocals are high-pitched and soaring, with some impressive blood-curdling shrieks.  They are somewhat reminiscent of a combination of Joey Belladonna and Tom Araya's early work with Slayer.  I could see checking this band out further honestly.  This is pretty good.

VENGEANCE: "Mulligan's Stew"

Vengeance is a band that I think I have heard of, but there are likely several other bands called "Vengeance" out there.  The music kind of has a dirty, sleazy hard rock vibe, particularly with the kind of whiskey-soaked vocal style the singer uses.  It is kind of an odd mix for a band that is very clearly Christian.  The guitar solo makes it somewhat interesting, but the vocals kind of grate after awhile and the song just sort of ends.  Not really my cup of tea.

MAGDALLAN: "Dome of the Rock"

This one fucking sucks.  I suppose it is trying to capitalize on the softer rock that Extreme hit it big with, you know "More Than Words" and "Hole-Hearted".  There is a little bit of a James LaBrie tone to the vocals.  But man, when that chorus kicks in, I just want to turn the damn thing off.  This is terrible.  And as bad as that is, the a capella part is significantly worse.  This thing just keeps getting worse with each section.

SACRED WARRIOR: "Obsessions"

Sacred Warrior's song reminds me a lot of mid-period Queensryche.  Not super-heavy, but with some undeniably metal riffs and high-pitched crooning vocals that call to mind Geoff Tate.  The music is more of a progressive metal with a decent guitar solo.  The vocals are clearly the star here though.  This is not too bad really.  

ANGELICA: "Cover Me"

Oh God!  My ears!  I suppose the best comparison I can come up with here is that this band is trying hard to be Cinderella.  Kind of a blues-based hard rock band, but this is really horrible.

RANSOM: "Exit (Euthanasia)"

And we keep getting worse.  Honestly this sounds like a really bad karaoke version of a hair band.  The music just has a very sterile feel to it and the vocals are really high in the mix.  It's almost muzak.  Yikes.  

MORTIFICATION: "Journey of Reconciliation"

Mortification is another band I was familiar with.  They are somewhat infamous for being a Christian death metal band, if one can truly believe that.  Their first couple of albums are often cited as Christian metal done right, but they became something of a parody of themselves in later years.  I had never actually heard them before.  It is fairly simplistic death metal, sort of in the vein of Obituary, but without the swampy feel to the riffs.  The vocals are reasonably gruff.  This sounds more like the kind of thing a young band just starting out would record.  It's not bad, it's just kind of amateurish and simple.

DELIVERANCE: "Victory"

Okay, after the last several songs, I am excited to be getting back to Deliverance.  This is their second appearance on the compilation, one of three bands to appear twice.  This is a song from their first album upon doing some cursory research.  And this song once again impressed with a militant Slayer-esque riff to start things off.  I really do think I like this band.  

MORTAL: "If Ever Maria..."

Oh for fuck's sake.  I think this band was going for a Nine Inch Nails/Ministry industrial sound, but the electronic equipment sounds so fucking cheap.  This reminds me more of the Friends episode where Ross finds his keyboard and starts playing at the coffee shop and his music is just this random collection of sound effects.  Yep, this is that bad.

RANDY ROSE: "Black Harvest"

Like the Angelica song, the vocals are way too high in the mix and the music here sounds like just a backing track.  I kind of get what they are trying for, more of a heavy stoner/doom sound, but it just does not come across really well.  Rose has Danzig-lite vocals that might sound better with a more convincing band.  

BLOODGOOD: "Battle of the Flesh"

I think I have heard of Bloodgood before.  This has 1980's style speed metal written all over it, with a hard-hitting riff and wailing vocals.  I kind of like it really.  Apparently this band went to more of a hard rock sound later, but if the rest of their early material sounds like this, they are not too bad.  

TOURNIQUET: "Psycho Surgery"

Here is Tourniquet again.  This song sounds more like an attempt to jump on the progressive/technical thrash metal wave with notably non-Christian bands like Heathen and Atheist.  I kind of dig the chorus this time around.  I think this was on the album my friend had and in general I much prefer it to the first song by this band on the compilation.

SHOUT: "Give Me an Answer"

This song would have fit in well with the late 1980's hair bands.  It sounds more like a combination of Whitesnake and Poison.  Now I can get behind some hair bands, but not those two and not this one either.  This is pretty bad.

VENGEANCE: "Before the Time"

Vengeance joins Tourniquet and Deliverance as the only bands to appear on this thing twice.  This song is quite a bit different than the last one, taking on more of a hardcore/thrash metal sound.  The vocals are more reminiscent of snotty punk singers, but there are some fast riffs and a decent solo.  I prefer this song to the other one by Vengeance, but I do not think it is enough to check the band out further at this point.

LANNY CORDOLA: "Angry Candy"

And finally we come to the end of this and it is a really painful way to finish it off.  It is an instrumental sort of in the vein of Joe Satriani or Steve Vai, but with numerous samples that give it a very corny feel.  I do not think much of it.

There we have it.  I survived.  I think Deliverance is the only band I would really consider checking out, though maybe Sacred Warrior would be okay.  There was a lot of utter shit on this thing and precious few decent songs.  Safe to say my soul has not been saved by this release.

Original Sin: Sin Will Find You Out (1986)

This is a damn good album, but I will be honest, the story behind it is much more interesting than the album.  Time for a history lesson.

When you look at the Metal Archives page, you see a band picture of four women dressed in suitably 1980's metal garb.  And looking at the band lineup, you see four women listed.  But this is all fake information.  Original Sin is a fake band.  The actual Original Sin musicians are primarily the musicians from Virgin Steele, who also recorded the Exorcist album Nightmare Theatre, another fake album.  The one outlier on this release is that the vocals are performed by Virgin Steele vocalist David DeFeis's sister Danae.  The other musicians are the male musicians that performed on the Exorcist album, two of whom were in Virgin Steele.  So why the charade?

Apparently members of the band, and DeFeis in particular, wanted to stretch their wings a little bit musically and play something a little darker.  Specifically DeFeis wanted to write a black metal album (Exorcist) and a darker traditional metal album (Original Sin), but the manager did not want him to release these albums as Virgin Steele because of their established sound. In addition, their manager claimed that the band owed him money and wanted albums to release that they would not be paid for.

Well enough of that, how is it?  Actually pretty damn good.  This is extremely impressive darker-edged heavy/power metal with some very catchy songs, if ridiculously over-the-top evil and campy as hell.  The vocals soar over the riffs and it is clear that Danae is having a great time doing this.  She is apparently operatically trained and it shows.

This album is a very entertaining oddity.  It is obvious the band members had a hell of a good time writing and recording it and there are some exceptional songs on it.  Even if it is a fake project, it resulted in a damn good album.

Varathron: Stygian Forces of Scorn (2009)

Is anyone getting tired of Varathron posts?  Well, this is the last one for now. 

After their 2004 release, Varathron went yet another five years before releasing this album.  Turns out the wait was well worth it.  This is not quite a return to form for the band, but it is a change to a much more epic brand of Hellenic black metal and very similar to the sound Rotting Christ was using in the same time period.  One major change is the abandonment of the reliance on keyboards.  There are still keyboards present, but they are a much more minor part of the sound and Varathron has returned to basing their melodies around crunching riffs.  There are still atmospheric moments, which the band has always utilized quite well, and they work to accentuate the much more aggressive riffs on this release.

The highlights include "Legions of Profane Wrath" and "Sacred Ahlat" where the riffs are particularly aggressive and the atmosphere is at its most epic.  It is those songs that really draw comparisons to their countrymen in Rotting Christ.  But there are absolutely no weak moments on this entire release.

This is Varathron's best album since their debut.  That is truly saying something because the band has released a number of terrific albums, despite the last two missteps.  This release is every bit the equal of the Rotting Christ albums of the last 15 years or so, and longtime readers know how I feel about those releases.

Varathron: Crowsreign (2004)

After their 1999 EP The Lament of Gods, Varathron sort of disappeared for awhile.  Technically they did not break up, but it was a few years before anything new was released.  Some more lineup changes occurred and the band released a new album in 2004.

Crowsreign follows along with the sound that the band turned to on the 1999 EP.  It is a much more gothic and mysterious sound with frequent keyboard flourishes.  Indeed, the keyboards and piano have really taken center stage on this release with songs built around these melodies instead of guitar riffs.  The guitar riffs themselves sound much more like something that would be heard on the early releases from At The Gates or Dark Tranquillity.  They have much more of a distorted crunch to them.  But it is not just the instrumentation that has changed. 

Vocalist Stefan Necroabyssius uses clean vocals a great deal in this release as well, though to call it singing would be a mistake.  It is much more of a melodic chant than singing.  When he is not using his clean vocals, the vocals are delivered in much more of a death metal-esque bark than on previous releases.  He has always used gruff vocal stylings, but it is more concentrated and sounds like something out of the Gothenburg melodeath scene.

The highlight here is the epic "The King of Asine" which puts all of the elements together, using strong riffing, terrific vocal tone and some of the best songwriting in the band in years.  Unfortunately, this album is filled with many more misses than hits and that high point is not enough to overcome the stumbles.

This is certainly an interesting release, but it is not one that I feel comfortable recommending for those new to Varathron.  It stands out a bit in the band's discography because it is much more experimental, but it is not one of the band's better albums.

Varathron: The Lament of Gods (1999)

Varathron went kind of quiet for a few years after Walpurgisnacht.  They released a single demo and a compilation of their first two demos and some unreleased tracks in 1997 before finally coming up with some new material in 1999.  Unfortunately this was just a short EP containing four new tracks and a cover.

The band was at a bit of a crossroads on this album.  A number of lineup changes occurred and the sound had gone in a significantly more gothic metal direction.  For one thing, there is a much larger reliance on keyboards, particularly in the Phantom of the Opera-esque "The World Through Ancient Eyes".  The result is a sound that is dark and eerie, but a far cry from what came before in the band's history.  Otherwise the band experiments more with classic metal elements at times, including through riffs and solos.

The cover song I mentioned is "Nuns Have No Fun", one of the goofier Mercyful Fate tracks.  Mercyful Fate is one of the harder bands to cover, due mostly to the unusual vocal style of King Diamond.  Very few bands even attempt the vocals, and of those that do, fewer pull it off.  Varathron does not pull off the vocals, but the music is interesting enough.  Not a great cover, but not embarrassing either.

This would be Varathron's last release for a few years and that is not terribly surprising given the overall feel.  This release sounds almost nothing like the band's earlier stuff, they were just too far gone at this point.  This is decent for what it is, but it does not hold up to the band's classic material.

Varathron: Walpurgisnacht (1995)

Just two years after releasing His Majesty at the Swamp, Varathron released their follow-up album, but it sounds like much more time has passed.  That is how different the band sounds on this release.  It is not as if they have made a complete change, the band is still very obviously Varathron, but they have evolved.

The first sign of this is the return of some blazing speed with the much more traditional black metal-sounding "Tleilaxu (The Unborn Child)".  There are still elements of the Hellenic sound here, but this is much more Swedish or Norwegian in tone with a bulldozing riff and shrieked vocals.  Varathron appears to have returned on the second track, with a sound much more in line with their prior album, including the guitar tone that is so synonymous with this scene.  But then things get a little weird.

"The Dark Hills" is essentially a gothic metal track, sounding more like something Moonspell would record, complete with intense, whispered vocals in the beginning and vampiric chanting.  "Mestigoth" is a microcosm of the album as a whole, going from intense black metal, to slower gothic-sounding music and back again.  The album then cycles back around to the much more like their sound on the prior album.

Obviously there is nothing wrong with a band expanding their musical horizons.  I do not want it to sound like I do not enjoy this album.  It is significantly different than the band's legendary debut, but that does not make it bad at all.  Quite the opposite.  Varathron continues to show why they have been so influential on this burgeoning scene (at the time). 

Varathron: His Majesty at the Swamp (1993)

Here we arrive at Varathron's first full-length album, one I have heard a lot about and kept meaning to check out.  This album is legendary, both within the band's discography and the scene at large.  It is also legendary in black metal circles.  Decibel Magazine elected it to its Hall of Fame, and it is absolutely worthy.

The name of the album conjures up intriguing imagery, captured by the album cover.  The sound fits well with that imagery because it is a murky and swampy sounding release that brightness occasionally shines through.

Varathron has dialed back the thrash influences on this album in favor of a more mid-paced stomp.  The riffing style has stayed the same, punctuated by wandering lead guitar melodies.  The band never really sits still on anything too long, crafting an epic and ever-changing sound that never gets old and always retains interest.  The vocals return to a more decayed whisper as if from a creature rising from the swampy depths itself.  I am not sure why the band returned to this style, but it works well for this release.

This has long been considered an absolutely essential release for the Hellenic black metal scene.  And after years of hearing that, I finally checked it out and realized how true it is.  This album is incredible and it has earned its place at the top of the Hellenic black metal scene.

Varathron: Genesis of Apocryphal Desire (1990)

Continuing on with an in-depth look at Hellenic black metal, and in particular, Varathron, we have the Greek band's second demo. 

This is the release where Varathron truly came into their own.  Their musical and compositional abilities have improved light years from the previous demo and they have truly found their own voice.  Classifying this release as black metal is a bit simplistic as there are numerous thrash metal influences present.  From the "Raining Blood"-like melody in the title track to the undeniable thrash riffs in "Seven Endless Horizons", this release comes across as more of a blackened thrash sound.  There are also guitar solos present on the release, something that was missing on the last one.

The vocals have also improved.  While they still have a bit of the rotted sound present from the previous demo, the tone has improved greatly and they are much more prevalent in the mix.  Which brings me to the production itself.  Where the prior demo was very raw and muddy, this one is much more clear, with all of the instruments standing out.

This is the release where Varathron truly grabbed attention.  They would build on and improve this sound from here, but this is the true introduction to the band.

Varathron: Procreation of the Unaltered Evil (1989)

Just a few days ago I said that I would be diving deep into the Hellenic black metal scene.  Well here we go.  Varathron is one of the bigger names in the scene and has been at it for 30 years now.  This is the band's first demo.

The original version of this demo (mine is a reissue with a bunch of extra live tracks) is just two songs, lasting just over nine and a half minutes.  What is evident is that the band is still finding their sound, but that they are on the right track.  The songs are built around funereal guitar melodies that are in constant motion.  The vocals have a decayed and desiccated sound to them, as if the singer has just arisen from the grave.  The combination gives the release a spooky, creepy quality that the scene has become known for.

This is an excellent beginning for a band that would become one of the standard-bearers for the scene.  Of course the best was yet to come for Varathron, but this is an impressive start.