![]() So that first defect can be exonerated somehow, but how about the second one? The closer “Like a Song”, a U2 cover from the Irish rockers’ 1983 opus “War”… sped up a bit and turned into an energizing power metal hymn with again some operatic support. It was later that I appraised it accordingly, largely due to the fact that this pioneering manifestation was created much earlier, an admirable early attempt at breaking boundaries and defying canons. As I’d also been listening to Therion’s “TheIi” and “Vovin” (especially) at that time, hearing those motifs wasn’t a shock per se, but this reference to another genre sounded a bit awkward, thrown amidst a most sizzling thrashing melee. Ha ha, not so fast, cause we’re tumbling into “Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)”, the first defect these ears detected some 25 years ago, including on the very first listen when this operatic folk-ish etude produced a huge surprise, with the female vocals and the soothing violin tunes, the fast-paced thrashy inclusion inserted later binding it to an extent with the preceding material. “Idols of Ignorance” is a headbanger’s check-in station, near-5-min of vehement thrashing the latter innocently intercepted by a couple of more academic march-like walkabouts, the riff-madness unleashed stopped by “Stop the Madness”, to an extent only mind you, as this number is a cradle of intricate razor-sharp crescendos and subversive mid-tempo currents, the guitarists weaving spell-binding passages of visionary complexity before venting out more madness at the end with the closing speedy tractate.Īnd that was it, game over. Hats down to the band for providing the inordinate complexity witnessed on this odyssey in a more compact, digested format on “Wisdom's Call”, a non-fussy technicaller which rages stylishly around until it reaches a “Nonpoint”, another arresting complex saga with meandering disorienting arrangements and unheralded fever-ish tempo shifts. Setting the lathe inordinately high with the supreme title-track, an anomalous shape-shifter tossing both creepy chugs and furious skirmishes all around, not to mention the several technical riff-knots that will make one’s head spin in not very regular circles from here to the cathedral downtown and back. Whether the album reviewed here could be viewed a reflection of said stance and of the guys’ more merciful predilections, may forever remain debatable, but there’s no denying the fact that they came out with all they had on it, and consequently produced one of the sheer milestones in the genre. Later on I came across other (in)sane obscurities, from other walks of metal as well, but the time spent with this godly tryptich back then remains one of the most memorable moments in my career as a metaller.Īnd for a damn god… sorry, good reason, the debut already on a very lofty pedestal, a somewhat raw but utterly compelling slice of old school tech-thrash, the band determined on taking no prisoners from the get-go despite their openly Christian lyrical stance. I found the guys’ first three efforts in the late-90’s, when they were already a foregone conclusion, but I listened to them religiously for a number of weeks, being absolutely certain that I’d been graced by the greatest lesser known thrash metal act. The other moment that’s always pained me, just a bit mind you, is that I was a very late passenger on this train. Sometimes.īut we’ll get back to these defects later, although those who are familiar with the band’s repertoire and with this album in particular already know what I allude to. I’ve always been an enthusiastic albeit moderate advocate for artistic audacity, but when this audacity starts contaminating the kitchens from where I most regularly satiate my music hunger, I catch myself becoming agitated, and sometimes plain resentful. I know fans who would give it said score based on those two defects alone, but I’m not one of those. And that’s the reason why I’ll put it aside for a while, I listen to it every other week, and will forget about its existence I know it pretty much by heart… I simply don't want it to go away with the perfect score that I’ve been pondering on granting it for quite some time. The more I listen to this album, the more I try to close my ears for the two small defects that have been detected from the first moment it graced my household. ![]()
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