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.