POSSESSED - SEVEN CHURCHES - OCTOBER 16, 1985

POSSESSED - SEVEN CHURCHES - OCTOBER 16, 1985

 Seven Churches was the thrash metal album that became too dark to be considered just a thrash album. It sets the mood at the offset with the iconic 1973 horror classic Exorcist intro that explodes into a fury of speed leaving a listener curious as to what precipice they will take you next. They seem to set themselves apart from their thrash predecessors and the music that was being created at the time from other bay area bands through the guttural vocals of Jeff Becerra that beckon you to join the depths of hell Possessed discovered, that although at times seem overshadowed by the instrumental, you can tell he sets a stage and a base for death metal vocalists to draw influence from for years to come. I find the biggest difference instrumentally from the thrash metal that had been released prior was the tempo and the fact that it seemed to go everywhere and unpredictably so. At moments I felt as if I was trying to connect the dots within the song structure. I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that the production was fairly raw but it seemed like the transitions between riffs and the instrumentals finding a balance just wasn't coming together in a few places and took time to find its way, although when it made its way there (which it always did) it did so not with a wimper, but with a bang. That being said, the place where the music found the perfect balance throughout the album was its variety between its almost explorative nature on where you can tell the artists were testing their boundaries instrumentally.

The lyrical content is as haunting as the wails of moaning demons that you hear at the beginning of the song “The Pentagram”. A good summation of the lyrics and messages trying to be portrayed throughout the album as could be inferred and felt by a listener is being inevitably pulled into the depths of hell, a place where illusions, nightmares and demons meet and what lies there. I find it a shame that the vocals seemed over shadowed at times when more attention and emphasis should have been on the lyrics rather than the need to focus on the curve balls that were thrown at such a rapid speed instrumentally. I can't even fathom what it must have been like to hear material like this for the first time in 1985, its raw and unsettling in all of the right places and was the perfect seed to unearth and begin this journey with.

Stand Outs: Fallen Angel, The Exorcist, The Pentagram

Rating: 8.5/10