DEATH - SCREAM BLOODY GORE - MAY 25, 1987

DEATH - SCREAM BLOODY GORE - MAY 25, 1987

"Drink from the goblet, the goblet of gore" but be warned, what you might taste (hear) is flavored with a raw and grinding intensity that will leave you parched for more.

The bludgeoning speed that is maintained for most of Scream Bloody Gore is one of its most intense features but it's done in a way that it does not compromise the technicality of the instrumentals and there is a sense of continuity throughout the album as if trying to refine and explore this aspect of it. Songs such as Zombie Ritual or Baptized in Blood manage to capture this with their endearing and catchy qualities without sacrificing their intensity. There are audible melodies underlying the surface of each song, in that respect, the kind that scratch beneath the surface and make your skin crawl when paired with the vocals. The most addictive element of this album for me is Chuck Schuldiner’s vocals, almost like a guttural lullaby before drifting you into a nightmare filled with mutilated zombies and the kind of torture that only a Cenobite from Hellraiser could envision (a movie that was released the same year based off a horror novel by Clive Barker).  Even though he had developed his vocal style when he began playing with the Floridian death metal band Mantas in 1983, the style apparent on this album is clearly influenced by Jeff Becerra of Possessed however the lyrics that were written are not, they focus on horror and gore rather than the satanic imagery that had been lyrically portrayed in Seven Churches.

The drums aren’t spectacular or overly notable, but Chris Reifert keeps up with the tempo changes and intensity gracefully. At the end of the day, this album is a showcase of Chuck Schuldiner and the groundwork that he lays on the table for his own diverse legacy and that of the genre itself. I sometimes speculate if the revolving door of line up changes throughout the band's history, especially considering how selective Chuck had been in choosing fellow collaborators and the drastic variances between albums, had been intentional to highlight the evolution of his personal style and experimentation. As an album, it may not be the best initial introduction to this particular band but it certainly is a well fitting introduction to this form of music as a gateway to a heightened and deeper appreciation of this style of death metal.

Scream Bloody Gore has stood the test of time not from quality, although there are very few holes to find, but from its recognized stature as a stepping stone embedded with the basic elements of death metal instrumentally, vocally and lyrically that the next steps of the genre derive and build upon for years to come. All you need to do is listen to understand why.

Standouts: Zombie Ritual, Baptized in Blood, Evil Dead

Rating: 9/10

POST MORTEM - CORONER'S OFFICE - 1986

POST MORTEM - CORONER'S OFFICE - 1986

Post Mortem have been labelled as pioneers by some although often overlooked in their influence to death metal, the way in which I agree is their exploration of influences and utilization of such a spectrum of them within their music to artistically try and stretch the size of the canvas of where heavy metal music could be drawn. This being said, I prefer more method to my madness on metal albums and there is just too much going on with this one regardless of the variety and hidden solo gems this album is riddled with. The best song example for how heavily afflicted this album is with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is "No Time". The beginning and end of the song have a raw thrash and punk infused sloppy feel but sandwiched in between is a characteristically out of place although somewhat impressive solo that could have been plucked from a classic rock album that devolves into a slow, measured and heavy doom riff before making its way full circle. They took every genre in the rainbow including jazz and a hint of even classical influence and sound to create this truly experimental piece of work.

There were really only two songs that came up to bat for our genre of discussion, "Coroner's Office" and "Death to the Masses", the later an interesting one since it was for the most part a nice mixture of very catchy doom and thrash heavy riffs with a solo that fits neither of those genres and polished with a few shiver inducing moans made by the vocalist, John McCarthy. When first hearing the song "Coroner's Office" I almost immediately zeroed in on the lyrics, it wasn't the typical satanic imagery that had been (not so) popularly peddled by other bands previously and of this time. This was gore, not a half bad "stab" at it either with lyrics such as "behind the dripping scalpel knife I deface your mother's womb in the coroner's office" and "putrid gasterous juices amongst the bloody bowels carving choice selections". Although "Coroner's Office" could easily be deemed quite crude, the lyrics throughout the entire album really showcase the strong sense of humor that these young musicians from Boston possessed with songs like "Syncopated Jazz" and "Soupy Sales" which were nothing more than mid marker jokes woven into the album for yet a further spice of variety. The humor doesn't stop there, the album cover? Its a close up picture of the Snow White ride at Disneyland. You really need to be in the mood for this album, by that I mean in a mind set of not taking it at all seriously or looking for any specific genre of music in it because it has it all.

Standouts: Death to the Masses, Coroner's Office

Rating: 5/10

SEPULTURA - MORBID VISIONS - NOVEMBER 10, 1986

SEPULTURA - MORBID VISIONS - NOVEMBER 10, 1986

For most fans and I can say in my case as well, this is one of those albums that can remind you of what first attracted and drew you into metal no matter the genre in discussion. Founded by the two young brothers Max and Igor Cavalera whom were brought up in the harsh political and economic climate of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Sepultura broke into the scene with their Bestial Devastation EP. Shortly thereafter Morbid Visions was released, although the youth of the musicians shines through the sloppiness of the music they still manage to take hold of you in a number of catchy riffs throughout the album that so easily seduce lingering personal frustrations to the surface with their raw and unique blend of instrumentals and guttural vocals. That particular blend doesn't see much variety between the songs themselves but there are a few standout riffs that pull you back again for seconds.

Troops of Doom is an appropriate song title. As noticed in previous albums one of the elements to fitting the death metal disfigured cookie cutter mold would be the implementation of classic doom influences that had come before. Taking the tempo back at times to drag it into something slower and darker, before and between an assault of speed and aggression which is an apparent instrumental focus on each of the tracks. Aggression is what truly defines this album for me, the passion and driving force between my exploration of metal in any genre over the years has derived and fed off my need to emotionally connect to the music almost in a therapeutic sense. This is an album that focuses on emotion over skill or technicality and in that sense knocks it out of the park, it may be raw and for the most part sloppy but it draws out the emotions that it was created to; anger and frustration being the foremost of those feelings.

Standouts: Morbid Visions, Troops of Doom, Funeral Rites

Rating: 7.5/10

POSSESSED - BEYOND THE GATES - OCTOBER 31, 1986

POSSESSED - BEYOND THE GATES - OCTOBER 31, 1986

We’re in the 80s now folks, the initial introduction sounds like the soundtrack to a typical emotional heart wrenching protaganist struggle in an 80s movie rather than the haunting introduction that Seven Churches set the stage with. Rather than push their raw and darkly supernatural sound that shook its listeners to their very core on Seven Churches, it seemed as if in this release they were trying to put out something a bit shinier, even commercial. The riffs are much tighter throughout the course of the album with slightly less diversity and more predictability tempo wise than its predecessor. I also must say that where they have stepped up is finding a balance in having the instrumentals and vocals rarely over power one another, you can tell their focus was to find each other instrumentally rather than stumble into one another. Mike Sus seems to have refined his art on this one and Jeff Becerra is settling into his stride on the vocals with more confidence and character in his ever distinguishable vocals.

Beyond the Gates will always be more of a thrash metal album and was a step back more into that direction, in my opinion, but their influence makes them worthwhile for the death/thrash crossover bands that followed and grew off their sound to search for something darker off the beaten path on even just a lyrical point of view let alone instrumentally. This was the final LP released by Possessed whom had broken up shortly thereafter the Eyes of Horror EP which had an even more so of a thrashier pace and sound under the production and influence of Joe Satriani. Of the demos and material that followed as well as the revolving door of band members when the band had reunited again, Possessed never seemed to be able to revisit their darker roots and stuck to their thrash influences so this will be their last mention on this journey save for their influential storm they set in motion.

Highlights: Phantasm, No Will to Live

Rating: 6/10