skeptik
Member
- Feb 7, 2003
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Thrash!!! - 78%
Written by UltraBoris on September 7th, 2003
This is solid old-school death metal - the kind that doesn't stray too far from the thrash ideals that make death metal worth listening to in the first place. This one is a lot faster overall, and has more high-end in the mix than the more sludgy later stuff that Suffocation would do. The vocals are also slightly different, and altogether it goes well. It's not quite as heavy, but it's still certainly no Sonata Arctica.
It's an EP, so we have only 6 songs here - but they're all pretty damn good. The highlight has to be probably Synthetically Revived, though they are all similar. This is a good thing - you don't have them pulling anything stupid. While Suckbid Angel was fucking around with idiocy, these guys were putting out solid heavy metal. Catatonia is probably the slowest song on here, though slow is a relative term - it's just more midpaced, similar to later Suffocation, as opposed to the frantic sound they borrow from Possessed and Slayer and use for most of the EP.
The last track, Human Waste, actually sounds pretty different production-wise... I'm not sure if it's a demo track or something. It pretty much starts off as a classic thrash number before becoming more death-metal. Though again, if you take Pierced from Within as 1995, and the rest of the EP as 1991, this sounds like it's 1988 - the guitar tone doesn't have as much low-end and in general sounds more like Hell Awaits than anything else. Very interesting - qualitywise the song blends in well with the rest of the EP, though it does make me wonder.
In any case, this is pretty essential. In 1991 death metal was still pretty viable and worth hearing, and this is a good example of the best of the genre. And remember, kids... Suckbid Angel sucks. There's real death metal out there.
Okay riffs, horrendous overproduction - 55%
Written by UltraBoris on April 11th, 2004
This album would be a pretty good Slayer release, well in the context of what they really HAVE been putting out in the last few years. Slayer is of course the comparison everyone seems to make to any band that sounds the slightest bit thrashy, but overall I don't really hear it, so the only reason I made the reference is because Proscriptor tried out for Slayer when Lombardo left, and was one of the forerunners for the job.
I can see why. The dude is talented. He's also obnoxious as fuck. The drums on ths album really take over the riffs far too often, and honestly it's the drumwork that's varied, not the riff work, and that just doesn't fly with me. The production reflects this, and thus the whole album has a very slick, modern feel. It is not raw like Hell Awaits, and sounds more like Nifelheim going into an expensive studio, getting an unlimited budget, and putting out some unimaginative fast thrash, but with the dial settings REALLY optimised for modern clarity. Unfortunately, this means nothing gets a true emphasis. I don't hear the riffs.
I mean of course they're THERE, but there are hardly any really overt grabber riffs... there are tremolo riffs up the ass, but still this does not feel at all like Pleasure to Kill, which is of course the king, lord supremator, divine massive emperor, humongous wiener, Dei Gratia Rex, Ind. Imp., of ALL tremolo-based albums. What makes PtK great is that the middle sections come in and absolutely destroy. In here, they do not. Listen to the first song (well, not the intro, the second song, I suppose), Pillars of Mercy, and the middle section just does not going. There is no "I return to the cemetery...." bashing middle part. The little lick that is supposed to segue from one riff to another gets drastically overused, while Proscriptor pretty much plays a solo.
The album does actually slow down a bit after that... Reign in Blood was mentioned as an apt comparison, but Reign's riffage is far more clear, and far more memorable - even the songs in the middle that many people call "slop" have their moments - I can remember Epidemic, Reborn, etcetc.
Furthermore, the riffs are never brought out - ever. This LP has a kinda neutered guitar tone, as opposed to that legendary "Slayer/Kreator/Dark Angel/Sodom/oh just about every heavy/brutal thrash band ever" crunch. It is very trebly, but not scratchy-powerful like Coroner or Shah. It sounds like it's mid-trebles (3000hz) were amped up a bit, but the really high noisy treble that makes metal have that subtle distortive crunch (6000hz) was turned very much down. Therefore, no guitar work really truly stands up and screams. There is no dynamics in the guitar - neither implied nor explicit. Contrast this with, for example, Angel of Death, where that middle break forces you to listen because the sound-space shifts subtly towards the guitars - the drums slow down, and the guitar notes as well, therefore causing each note to hit you like a hammer. Here, there are no hammers. The individual notes do not ring out, but rather kinda blend together. Again, the high-trebles are gone, and the whole thing is mush.
Also, you've got the vocals, which are thin and scratchy. This is no Dani Filth, but again, it sounds like one is trying to be 'grim' for the sake of being 'grim', without thinking of what the sound is supposed to represent. I suppose because Bathory had the lizard-shriek, so must everyone else? But Bathory put that on top of an atmosphere of pure EVIL, while this album sounds more like an average thrash wannabe, with poor production and a sojourn into history... far more British Sabbat than Japanese Sabbat, and lacking the riff power and spitting delivery of the first band, and the all-out brutality of the second.
Again, the production is very muted. Very modern and "Testament goes from the first two LPs to the Still Deadly collection" style. I can hear everything, but nothing blows me away. Pandemonium and Darkness Descends this is not - albums with monster guitars, sloppy production, loud and spirited drums, and overall crushing atmosphere. This isn't even South of Heaven, with its top-notch production and the brilliant fills of Lombardo complementing the vicious riffage. No, this is just kinda "here's everything, go run wild with it". The instruments share sound space, but don't coexist in it.
Technically the sound is perfect, but the album still is flat and lifeless. It doesn't even have the charm of the first Sodom full-length, which is also sloppy and scratchy but more in the Hellhammer vein than anything else. These guys are no Hellhammer. There is a difference between sloppy riffs played entirely from the heart, and kinda weak riffs played just because metal needs a guitar component. There is nothing sloppy about this album, which definitely takes away from the emotional component. This is about as technically perfect as a Dream Theater release, and just as sterile.
So, the highlights... well, the previous review mentioned that the songs sound all the same, and I tend to agree. "Four Crossed Wands" does have a few note progressions that sound generally Slayer-ish, especially 1988-1990 era. But the real true memorable parts are very few and far between. "Stone of Destiny" has the novelty value in that it doesn't sound EXACTLY like the rest of the album. But at that point it is too little, too late.
I do not hate this album. I can listen to it in the background. But I could also go another lifetime without ever wanting to hear it again.
Written by UltraBoris on September 7th, 2003
This is solid old-school death metal - the kind that doesn't stray too far from the thrash ideals that make death metal worth listening to in the first place. This one is a lot faster overall, and has more high-end in the mix than the more sludgy later stuff that Suffocation would do. The vocals are also slightly different, and altogether it goes well. It's not quite as heavy, but it's still certainly no Sonata Arctica.
It's an EP, so we have only 6 songs here - but they're all pretty damn good. The highlight has to be probably Synthetically Revived, though they are all similar. This is a good thing - you don't have them pulling anything stupid. While Suckbid Angel was fucking around with idiocy, these guys were putting out solid heavy metal. Catatonia is probably the slowest song on here, though slow is a relative term - it's just more midpaced, similar to later Suffocation, as opposed to the frantic sound they borrow from Possessed and Slayer and use for most of the EP.
The last track, Human Waste, actually sounds pretty different production-wise... I'm not sure if it's a demo track or something. It pretty much starts off as a classic thrash number before becoming more death-metal. Though again, if you take Pierced from Within as 1995, and the rest of the EP as 1991, this sounds like it's 1988 - the guitar tone doesn't have as much low-end and in general sounds more like Hell Awaits than anything else. Very interesting - qualitywise the song blends in well with the rest of the EP, though it does make me wonder.
In any case, this is pretty essential. In 1991 death metal was still pretty viable and worth hearing, and this is a good example of the best of the genre. And remember, kids... Suckbid Angel sucks. There's real death metal out there.
Okay riffs, horrendous overproduction - 55%
Written by UltraBoris on April 11th, 2004
This album would be a pretty good Slayer release, well in the context of what they really HAVE been putting out in the last few years. Slayer is of course the comparison everyone seems to make to any band that sounds the slightest bit thrashy, but overall I don't really hear it, so the only reason I made the reference is because Proscriptor tried out for Slayer when Lombardo left, and was one of the forerunners for the job.
I can see why. The dude is talented. He's also obnoxious as fuck. The drums on ths album really take over the riffs far too often, and honestly it's the drumwork that's varied, not the riff work, and that just doesn't fly with me. The production reflects this, and thus the whole album has a very slick, modern feel. It is not raw like Hell Awaits, and sounds more like Nifelheim going into an expensive studio, getting an unlimited budget, and putting out some unimaginative fast thrash, but with the dial settings REALLY optimised for modern clarity. Unfortunately, this means nothing gets a true emphasis. I don't hear the riffs.
I mean of course they're THERE, but there are hardly any really overt grabber riffs... there are tremolo riffs up the ass, but still this does not feel at all like Pleasure to Kill, which is of course the king, lord supremator, divine massive emperor, humongous wiener, Dei Gratia Rex, Ind. Imp., of ALL tremolo-based albums. What makes PtK great is that the middle sections come in and absolutely destroy. In here, they do not. Listen to the first song (well, not the intro, the second song, I suppose), Pillars of Mercy, and the middle section just does not going. There is no "I return to the cemetery...." bashing middle part. The little lick that is supposed to segue from one riff to another gets drastically overused, while Proscriptor pretty much plays a solo.
The album does actually slow down a bit after that... Reign in Blood was mentioned as an apt comparison, but Reign's riffage is far more clear, and far more memorable - even the songs in the middle that many people call "slop" have their moments - I can remember Epidemic, Reborn, etcetc.
Furthermore, the riffs are never brought out - ever. This LP has a kinda neutered guitar tone, as opposed to that legendary "Slayer/Kreator/Dark Angel/Sodom/oh just about every heavy/brutal thrash band ever" crunch. It is very trebly, but not scratchy-powerful like Coroner or Shah. It sounds like it's mid-trebles (3000hz) were amped up a bit, but the really high noisy treble that makes metal have that subtle distortive crunch (6000hz) was turned very much down. Therefore, no guitar work really truly stands up and screams. There is no dynamics in the guitar - neither implied nor explicit. Contrast this with, for example, Angel of Death, where that middle break forces you to listen because the sound-space shifts subtly towards the guitars - the drums slow down, and the guitar notes as well, therefore causing each note to hit you like a hammer. Here, there are no hammers. The individual notes do not ring out, but rather kinda blend together. Again, the high-trebles are gone, and the whole thing is mush.
Also, you've got the vocals, which are thin and scratchy. This is no Dani Filth, but again, it sounds like one is trying to be 'grim' for the sake of being 'grim', without thinking of what the sound is supposed to represent. I suppose because Bathory had the lizard-shriek, so must everyone else? But Bathory put that on top of an atmosphere of pure EVIL, while this album sounds more like an average thrash wannabe, with poor production and a sojourn into history... far more British Sabbat than Japanese Sabbat, and lacking the riff power and spitting delivery of the first band, and the all-out brutality of the second.
Again, the production is very muted. Very modern and "Testament goes from the first two LPs to the Still Deadly collection" style. I can hear everything, but nothing blows me away. Pandemonium and Darkness Descends this is not - albums with monster guitars, sloppy production, loud and spirited drums, and overall crushing atmosphere. This isn't even South of Heaven, with its top-notch production and the brilliant fills of Lombardo complementing the vicious riffage. No, this is just kinda "here's everything, go run wild with it". The instruments share sound space, but don't coexist in it.
Technically the sound is perfect, but the album still is flat and lifeless. It doesn't even have the charm of the first Sodom full-length, which is also sloppy and scratchy but more in the Hellhammer vein than anything else. These guys are no Hellhammer. There is a difference between sloppy riffs played entirely from the heart, and kinda weak riffs played just because metal needs a guitar component. There is nothing sloppy about this album, which definitely takes away from the emotional component. This is about as technically perfect as a Dream Theater release, and just as sterile.
So, the highlights... well, the previous review mentioned that the songs sound all the same, and I tend to agree. "Four Crossed Wands" does have a few note progressions that sound generally Slayer-ish, especially 1988-1990 era. But the real true memorable parts are very few and far between. "Stone of Destiny" has the novelty value in that it doesn't sound EXACTLY like the rest of the album. But at that point it is too little, too late.
I do not hate this album. I can listen to it in the background. But I could also go another lifetime without ever wanting to hear it again.
forgot about that site
