MESSIAH – EXTREME COLD WEATHER – 1987

MESSIAH – EXTREME COLD WEATHER – 1987 

 

Extreme Cold Weather by Messiah covers all of the staples for this band if you are to give them a try; a few songs from their first release Hymn to Abramelin, six live tracks and not to mention a few instrumental only songs along side the new material. The inclusion of their previous material really showcases the jump in musicians' technical skills, but more so in my opinion it seems to really highlight their strongest characteristic that sets the new material apart: their sense of humor. There is a song dedicated in love to Mother Theresa and a song dedicated in hate to Pope John Paul II. Messiah went the "if you don't have anything mean to say, don't say anything at all" route for the comparison of them. This is, of course, considering the fact that the song to Mother Theresa is a short and atmospheric instrumental song and the track dedicated to Pope John Paul II has “Pope John Sucks” audibly screeched half way through, and a final dig of “Fuck off John Paul, go and masturbate” at the end.

The song "Hyper Borea" is their best effort on this album only slightly ahead of "Nero" in my books. The song may only be instrumental but it seems to be the polarizing pinnacle point of the album that sets the mood and holds the rest of it together with so much variety in the material surrounding it. The anti-war song "Radezky March" has an interesting song structure and sparks as a regionally fascinating addition for the Swiss band, considering that it is mandatory for every Swiss male to serve at least 260 days in the armed forces. The song "Enjoy Yourself" inspired an idea that has now firmly settled itself into my bucket list. Picture John Cusack with a boom box held over his shoulders in the movie Say Anything. Now picture him playing this song, that promotes peaceful moshing, at a Slayer concert or a hardcore show (the metal scene would be a better place without ninja kicks and rednecks that are unaware of proper mosh pit etiquette). That just needs to be done now.

Stand outs: Hyper Borea, Nero, Enjoy Yourself

Rating: 6.5

NECROPHAGIA – SEASON OF THE DEAD – 1987

NECROPHAGIA – SEASON OF THE DEAD – 1987

Well, I know which album I will be pulling out come next Halloween. Season of the Dead is like the musical incarnation of Tales from the Crypt, the essence of the album is the stories of horror, death and gore that are told through the lyrics and less of a focus on the instrumental. The vocals are done in a way that Frank "Killjoy" Pucci sounds more like a narrator as rather than singing with the music, he speaks over the music quite audible and clean with a bit of rasp and snarl for dramatic flare. The dramatics do not end there on the album, keyboards and even acoustic guitars are used like special effects in a "B" horror movie. A few songs, "Ancient Slumber" for example, have what sound like excerpts from actual horror movies in the introduction or pieced into the songs. The creativity and potential just within reach on Season of the Dead will be what captures you on this album. Necrophagia truly hit the mark for trying to define a freshly born genre of horror and gore that hasn't had the umbilical cord cut yet.

Even though the theatrics over shadow the instrumentals, the album has more than its share of diverse riffs and experimentation with same. The song "Mental Decay" is my favorite showcase on the album for what these young musicians from Wellsville, Ohio are capable of. The introduction is a frantic and buzzing build up that works into a thrashy riff structure, they find a rhythm here more so than any other song for rather graceful tempo changes. The let down musically on this album for me is the drums. In songs such as "Terminal Vision" and "Painful Discharge" they are slow, simple beats that are used and at times seem to struggle to keep up with the guitars. "Beyond and Back" which is, inarguably in my books, the most polished hidden gem on this album with its variety from relentless stabbing riffs to its slow yet technical solos. Now that this is at a close it is time for me to track down my copy of Zelda Ocarina of Time, as the first song "Season of the Dead/Forbidden Zone" about three minutes in reminds me of the Temple of Time, every time.

Standouts: Mental Decay, Beyond and Back

Rating: 7/10