Usurper: Diabolosis... (1989)

I do this a lot.  I went backwards in my reviews.  Today's post is Usurper's debut album, released in 1989.  Now I could save time here and just say look at the last two posts for an idea of what Usurper's debut album sounds like.  But why the hell would I do that?

Usurper's debut definitely borrows heavily from the sound of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, and yes I have said that over and over again in the last two posts.  Honestly though that is simply the best way to describe Usurper's sound.  In fact there are moments where I was sure that Usurper turned to covering Celtic Frost.  But that was not the case.  Even the vocals sound like a carbon copy of Tom G. Warrior.

The band does craft a dark and foreboding atmosphere, with crawling riffs and impressive songwriting.  The result is a strong album that, while certainly not original in the slightest, at least holds the listener's attention.  Usurper is one of the better Celtic Frost imitators out there.

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.