Raging Steel - Of Power Metal and the Ice Beast

  I am riding my blackened steed. No wait, that sounds too gay. Ummmm, I am grinding my axe in your face. Nah, too death metal. How do I sum up an entire genre with just one pithy yet cheesy yet bombastic yet ironic remark and/or paragraph? Demon Scourge is the power metal guy around here! So here we go.......let's get some real life manna points, fan boys, and let's listen to the ORIGINATORS OF POWER METAL!!!!!!!!

Blind Guardian's first album, 1988's Battalions of  Fear, is the point A for power metal as we know it. An update of speed metal via Agent Steel and something quite new for the time, with more varied mood and textures, featuring a fair amount of acoustic guitar. Blind Guardian has always had a unique sound, and all the typical blind Guardian elements are there: furious thrash riffing, happy Germanic choruses, medieval interludes, Hansi Kursch's raspy opera singing, and epic songwriting. The main thing dragging this album down is the emphasis on slower, quieter songs, a kind of  slight Led Zeppelin influence that would fade away on the next album. Great start, though.

 Adventure in Samur Part 5.1 - Forgotten Heroes

Lars the Berserker sat before us, his long beard still glistening with melting snow. We had come here to the land of Narn with Mistress Crowbastard, who had disappeared after we transported to this land from the gateway atop the Kradiken Socrat in northern Samur. The bold human that sat across from us at this roughly hewn table of sourwood was the one who we had come to see. Lars the Berserker was, with ourselves and Crowbastard, one of the keepers of the denim and leather armor. We needed 

him to accompany us through to the world of Dantor to defeat Headron, who was planning to sell our beloved Centon to intergalactic developers. We have settled in to our seats, and our host begins to speak, "I know of what you seek Bloodmace and Demon Scourge." The cold winds are howling across the vast spirit lake outside, blasting the walls of the stone hut. "It is possible to defeat Headron with our denim and leather, but it will be dangerous. The gate to his world is located upon Va, an island that will be several days journey from here by boat. This village is the last stronghold of your people, the Huisketel. We have shed our flesh to live here in the frozen spirit world, where the problems of the mortals cannot touch us. With the coming of Headron, however, this is no longer true. If mortal powers are allowed to control the flow of magic and spirituality in he world below, terrible changes will happen to both worlds. We shall find Parthon the Elder, father to the one you call Iron Dan. He guards the gate on Va with Jarkon the Inflamer. They will reveal the final secrets of the armor to you. For now, steel yourself for a cold journey through a fearsome land." Just then, through the whipping of the wind another sound rises, a terrible screeching followed by a sickening thud. Our curious trio scurries up the stairs to the door and into the gray afternoon gloom.

 Helloween's best album of the 90's, Better Than  Raw, was a full return to form after their weak alternative rock experiments from the early 90's and a couple of weaker power metal albums. Similar to Blind Guardian in approach, they are less interested in epic fantasy based landscapes (despite the awesome album cover) than being  Iron Maiden with double bass drums and thrashier guitars. Catchy as fuck, inspiring, positive, power metal made for heros and mighty men of yore.

Adventure in Samur Part 5.2 - Nightstalker

The wind has picked up since we went inside the lair of Lars the Berserker a few moments ago and it lashes us with an unwholsome force. Upon the howling fury floats a storm of fluffy snowflakes, 

creating a gauzy mist. Looking in the direction of the terrible scream, we behold an awful sight. From the depths of the vast spirit lake, a beast has arisen. Vaguely arachnid in form, it towers threateningly above us, a single leg still thrust through one of the hovels in Lars' settlement. The creature looks to be covered in barnacles green and gray, giving it the appearance of living rock. The head, however is shiny black, with luminous eyes glowing blue in the pale midday light. Lars the Berserker brandishes his battle ax and shouts out, "It's Headron! He has sent his minion for us! Use the Destruction patch!" With that he rushes into battle. Bloodmace grabs the Infernal Overkill patch on the front panel of his denim and a wave of energy bursts fourth, more than either of us expected. The giant sea spider stumbles momentarily, giving the fur clad warrior his chance. With an evil cry, Lars launches himself straight at his adversary. A venomous pincer glances off his ax as he darts beneath the titanic foe. With a single blow from the enchanted weapon, the end of a leg falls out from under this demon of the sea. There is an earth shaking crash the spider falls to the ground. Scaling it's back with incredible speed, the dark warrior plunges the flaming hatchet into the skull of the fearsome devil with a wild screech. A geyser of blood explodes form the gaping wound, freezing in midair, ruby crystals that rain down upon the snow covered ground. The thing's body heaves terribly as life is yanked out of it, throwing the warrior to the ground like a rag doll. The craggy monster topples, one of its legs landing atop Lars the Berserker. Bloodmace and I rush over to help. Pulling the huge leg away, we find this heathen from the north bloodied and bruised. Without a word, he rises and walks in the direction of his home. With a faraway voice, he speaks to us, "You will stay in the hut while I mourn my fallen, then we will leave."

 But indeed, if you want to seek the true origin of modern power metal, seek no further than this album, Judas Priest's 1990 reboot, Painkiller. This album still fucking kills. Priest had not been this focused since 1980 and British. New drummer Scott Travis's thrash influenced drumming really inspired the other members to top themselves performance wise. The lyrics are pure fantasy cheese, but it's the steroid enhanced performance of this album that pushes what might have been just another Priest album (like Ram It Down was) to classic status. White hot steel for rivet heads with battle jackets and leather. Winner of the night!

Words of the Elders

Stare not into the lightless void, dear traveler, for the ways of the multiverse were not meant for you to behold. Forces from beyond the reaches of time grasp at this world already and the gaze of humans only sharpens their hunger. Like a dagger from space, these forces will rend apart this strange world of magic and super science. Beware Demon Scourge and Bloodmace, the greatest dangers are yet to come!

Until next week, Battalions of Fear,

Horns

Ketchup Post 3 - Two Headed, Six Armed Thrash Beast

 
The Denim Hordes arise from the Time Desert. In their war games, where thousands of innocents were casually slaughtered, a new music arose, imitating the rhythms of the wanton carnage perpetuated. In the temporal realms of Earth, this music manifested as............Thrash Metal!!!!!!!! Let's take a gander.

Infernal Majesty were one of those many great thrash bands from the 80's who for one reason or the other got lost in the shuffle. Actually, the reason this band is not as fondly remembered as, say, Dark Angel, or Forbidden, is that their second album plain sucked. Their entire reputation amongst 80's metal obsessives like myself and Demon rest on the merits of this awesome album, None Shall Defy. This is a technical riff smorgasbord in the vein of Slayer's Hell Awaits. There are several hundred thousand riffs, but a gloomy, Satanic atmosphere pervades. Tempo changes galore and a harsh rigidness of attack reminiscent of German thrash. Watch out for Skeletons In The Closet. Your head just may disconnect from your neck. This is a gleaming jewel in the pantheon of Canadian Metal. Winner of the motherfucking night, though by a mere pubic hair.

The next one we heard, Exodus's highly regarded thrashterpiece, Fabulous Disaster, is one of my personal favorite albums. Their first album gets the most attention as one of thrash's founding documents, but this is the album where they hone their sound to perfection, and utilize maximum musical brutality to its most logical extreme within the confines of the genre. The riffs slap your face with massive dicks, the time changes wrench your neck in several possible directions, and the guitar solos are delectable chaos nuggets. Even the sometimes gimmicky songs do not detract. Try listening while keeping your sanity intact. It's quite possible you might want to go beat up a fucking poser after listening to this album. You might go to jail, where they will stab you with knives.

All the albums we heard tonight were outstanding and really, any of these could have been the winner, though Infernal Majesty just a tad more evil than the other albums. Acrophet were another outstanding thrash band to get lost in the shuffle of 100's of band's thinking that they were going to be the big thing, a victim of the utter supersaturation of the thrash market that lead to its downfall in the early 90's, when you couldn't even play a backyard BBQ if you weren't down-tuned and whiny sounding. Too bad, because 1988's Corrupt Minds release is a solid album. This Midwestern band absorbed many, mostly American influence. Bay Area riffing meets New York style punk delivery with a grimy Chicago style street metal vibe. No epics and no song really stands out from the other; just an exercise in lively neck wrenching.

Aaah Teutonic thrash, is there anything that can take your place in this bleak and terrible world? Bloodmace and I have long shared a passion for Destruction, Sodom and Kreator. In the mid eighties, that triumvirate of titans revolutionized heavy music with sounds as daring as early Motorhead or Slayer. This was some of the heaviest music around and the lords of spikes and leather were rewarded with a loyal following among punkers as well as metalheads. What of the other bands though? Certainly there was more to explore on the the verdant plains of German thrash than just these three artists. On the night I speak of, we decided to take a closer look at this dark and satanic music 

Necronomicon-self titled
You can say they sounded too much like Destruction, you can say the rhythm section in this band would have benefited from a couple weeks in a room with a metronome, but I find the first full length by these German thrashers to be of considerable merit. The youthful energy of this quartet comes off with a sloppy intensity that extends to the album cover and press photos from the era. Highlights would be the incredible "Possessed by Evil" with it's inspiring chorus and "Magic Forest," a tune that never fails to make me cackle with delight at it's ragged blasphemies. This album remains in my playlist year after year because Necronomicon had a special flavor all their own. They weren't the most original band, or the most talented, but they are my favorite and at the end of the night that's what matters.

Exumer-   Possessed By Fire
After the blast of madness that was the Necronomicon album, Exumer sounded almost mainstream, but a couple tunes into our journey, it started to really gel with me. I appreciated the weird changes in "Sorrows of the Judgement" and the razor sharp riffing on the Slayer-like "Fallen Saint." Vocalist and bass player Mem Von Stein, has a great thrash bark that cuts through the molten riffery guitarists Ray Mench and Bernie slather on to this  forgotten classic. 

Iron Angel-Hellish Crossfire
So now we had seen a couple pretty great albums and the evening was really gettin' crazy, luckly for us, we had chosen to jam Iron Angel's great 1985 platter, Hellish Crossfire. I love this album for it's speed metal leanings and Dirk Schroder's unhinged vocals, for the great chorus on "Legions of Hell" and the unabashedly D&D album art. These guys, like Exumer, took some influence from American bands and mixed them with the game changing aggression of their countrymen. After a fierce battle, I declare Iron Angel to be the winners of German thrash night! Hail! 

Until next week, Invisible Invaders, 




Horns

Black Winter Day - Amorphis Night and Lars the Bereserker

 The Black Steeds of Metal Night race through the tundra, through ice and frost, through molten lava, through rivers of blood. They are a relentless juggernaut, crushing foes beneath their razor hooves. But once in a while, they want to party. Finland is a awesome place to party. Metal steeds always party to Amorphis and only Amorphis when they are in Finland. You want to argue with them? You want to play them some Korpiklaani? They are an awesome band, but shit, don't fuck with the Black Steeds, man! Do you want to die? Come on....let's review the first three Amorphis albums.

The Karelian Isthmus is a straight up and righteous early death metal in the Scandinavian vein circa 1992. The tempo is slow to mid-paced; the guitar sound buzzsaw-like and mid-rangy. The riffs and guitar melodies are top notch, taking on a bit of a Middle Eastern flair. The songwriting and approach may seem somewhat primitive. But, with some keyboards here; some acoustic bits there; much of the epic structure and atmosphere that marks later Amorphis opuses are here. Had they stayed with the basic death metal sound, they may have burned out after an album or two, but the next two releases are astonishing for the level of experimentation shown in a rather conservative context.

 
Adventure in Samur Part 4.1 - We Got the Right

On the other side of the northern gate, the snow stretches out as far as the eye can see. In the hazy distance, the dark form of a mountain rises up. There is no sign of the gate we left behind in Samur. We have come to the land of narn to seek out Lars the Berserker and gain knowledge of the magic armor given to us by our father. Mistress Crowbastard, a shock of flowing black robes against the gleaming white of our surroundings, calls to us from nearby, "Hurry now, we must locate the spirit 

 lake. Bloodmace, use the Kataklysym patch." The thoughtful barbarian places his hand on his lower back and touches the embroidery of the magical patch. Mistress Crowbastard points to the horizon, where a bright light has appeared, and calls out, "There! See it? The spirit lake lies ahead! Demon Scourge, stand with your back to Bloodmace and join hands." We stand together as she suggests and we hear her begin to sing the eldritch hymn of the Gatemaster, "Silver horses brought us here, to the edge of the universe!" I feel a warmth and a warm glow engulfs the three of us. The mystic continues her song in a deep guttural roar "Empty eyes are staring now, to my feet a land of sorrow." Again I feel the rush of travel, but the direction I cannot guess. Outside the glowing perimeter of our surroundings I catch glimpses of titanic shadows moving slowly across the horizon. Now with a final deathgrunt, the Baroness of Samur pronounces the last words of the spell, "Wafts of might, wine of fire! I was called to taste!" Suddenly, I fall to the ground that I thought was under me. We had arrived in Narn.

Tales of a 1000 Lakes is one of my favorite death metal albums.This album blew my mind back in the day. It's mixture of crushing heaviness, Finnish folk melodies, prog elements, tasteful synths, and occasional clean vocal attack is like candy with heroin at the center. There is lush epicness. There is ancient Finnish poetry. There is a spear that goes directly into the middle of your brain as you spasm on the ground in ecstasy. This could rightfully be called the first Finnish folk metal album, an ancestor of Korpiklaani and Fintroll, though with worse intentions. This is music to raise the Lake Troll to. Winner of the muthafuckin' night.


 Adventure in Samur Part 4.2 - Heavy Metal (is the Law) 

Bloodmace and I fall to the ground like a pile of rags. When my head bounces against the frozen ground, I notice that it is snowing. Picking ourselves up, we gaze upon the vast lake called Narn. A blizzard whirls around us and the icy wind bites through our coats. To our right, left and behind us there is nothing but horizon, but in front of us we can barely make out several low buildings. Mistress Crowbastard is nowhere to be seen, so we make for the shelter of one of the ice hovels ahead. Just as 

we get close enough to inspect the strange dwellings, Bloodmace stops me with an outstretched arm, and speaks in a low voice, "look at the door" I squint my eyes and can just make out a series of carvings upon the door of the square edifice, runes of earthen design, "We may be at our destination already, walk carefully." We walk several steps toward the weird outpost when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I whirl around, along with Bloodmace to behold a cloaked figure, eyes shining beneath a heavy cowl. With a deep voice he beckons us to his lair, "Come out of the storm brothers, we have much to speak about." With a wave of his hand, the door swings open to reveal a stairway leading down into a dimly lit room. In typical Samurian fashion, the circular room is decorated with bones of many creatures, laid out in a kind of parquet upon the floor. The stranger walks past us into the darkened quarters. Throwing his cloak to the side, he reveals a denim vestment, covered with patches and trimmed with thick fur. He touches the Dio patch and and the room reveals its strange luminosity. "I am Lars the Berserker." His great beard bristled and he furrowed his brow. He was a much younger man than we expected and had shaved his head lika northern mystic. Runic tattoos covered his arms, indicating his connection with the place they call Earth. "Hail to you for your deeds in Samur o hammers of the Wyvern! You actions were brave but also hasty, and now we must storm the outer dimensions that we might prevent the bloodrulers of Jenkabala and Waylor from asserting their dominance over the temporal world.

The third album, Elegy, is further departure from the death metal formula, straying into more traditional metal territory, while expanding their sound. The vocals are mostly clean, and the song structure somewhere in the realm of prog and trad metal,  with Deep Purple overtones everywhere. A few death growls remain, but they have pretty much left the extreme metal genre at this point. Acoustic instruments feature more prominently. And so they have forged the basic sound and formula that they would cling to for the rest of their career; ad nasueum, straying into great realms of boredom and stodginess. But this is the best example of that style, is a great album, and doesn't suck too many dicks.

So Demon Scourge and Bloodmace have lft their bodies behind and gone to the world of Narn where Lars the Berserker waits by the spirit lake, but where is Mistress Crowbastard who led them here? What terrible rites will they have to endure in this grim and frostbitten kingdom where dimensional winds torment the souls of those foolish enough to wander there? Elder gods of chaos arise! Let the sleeper awaken!

Until next week, merciless marauders,

horns

Jenkabala Stomach Churner - Goodbye 2012, Hello Brunch

Well, 2012 is a memory. I didn't really get to check out many new releases this year, and definitely not  enough for a top ten. So Demon Scourge and myself got together one bleak afternoon, ate some savage hell waffles, and checked some albums that figured quite predominately in many a blogger's top ten list. Shall we waltz down the corpse laden aisle of 2012?

So, in typical metal night fashion, our last post of 2012 has turned into the first post of 2013. As we enter into this new year (almost two years of metal Mondays!) I'd like to take a second out of our serialized tale of adventure and thank everybody who came to our little Monday night gathering. For me it has been an amazing time as Bloodmace and I, along with many of you reading this, embarked on an in depth study of heavy metal and it's galaxy of subdivisions and permutations. As you know, I have, since last October, been writing a fantasy tale that includes a character for each person who comes to the Monday night study sessions. In order to understand the world of Centon and the beings who populate it I have begun to catalog the characters, place names and creatures that populate this strange timepiece world. I have linked to pics of all guests that have been transformed into mystical warriors.

Until next week heroes of the underground,

Horns 

Baron Lotar - Commander of Keep Vorn, Lotar is known as a cruel tyrant who sends patrols of boar headed soldiers to enslave lone travelers who wander too close. Was with Vorthon's group of metal warriors when they revived Bloodmace, Demon Scourge and the rest.

Battle Paw the Mini-Beast - Feline familiar of Demon Scourge. Can travel freely between all dimensions.

Blun the Magnificent - Waylorian emperor who was possessed by a great puritanical fury and destroyed many ancient texts and relics. He leveled the library of Archibald Crane and destroyed Bloodmace's ancestral home under Mount Raven.

Clan Parth - Humans living along the River Trimpor in southern Samur. Enslaved by the Sauroped during the rule of the Wyverns.

Dantor - The chaos dimension, ruled by Headron

Dion -Unit of Centonian money, controlled by the Wyverns and the bankers of Jenkabala.

 Testament-Dark Roots of the Earth-This is a mothertrucking fucker of an album, and is Testament's best album with the possible exception of The Legacy. Testament have always been slagged as Metallica clones, but Metallica have not been this crushing since the mid 80's. This pisses all over Death Magnetic. Riff after riff bowls you over, while the intricacy of the arrangements and the deadly precision of the musicianship impresses the fucking shit out of you. There is a goddamn thrash ballad on this album, an actual cocksucking motherfucking bastard of a cold hearted ballad, the best ballad in all of thrashdom. Alex Skolnick guitar solos are like miniature classical masterpieces. Somebody lit a fire under the ass of this band, man. Every band's lead singer should survive cancer if they are going to write albums this good. Metal Night album of the year.

Gatemaster - There are two Gatemasters on Centon, Heliwanj in the south and Mistress Crowbastard in the north. Before the coming of Headron, they were the only way to access the alternate dimensions Centon is connected to.

Hellmaster - Royal heir of Clan Parth (Parth Ka-Taw was his former name) in northern Jenkabala, Hellmaster was exiled and subsequently built Castle Thrashstone in the Time Desert after learning a secret form of hermetic magic on his travels. Travels with Lady Deathcrush. Killed by Demon Scourge at castle Thrashstone at the end of the second age

Hell Wraith - Cryptophysicist who reverse engineered the Tauriat while studying the texts of Hellmaster with Vorthon the Whip of Fate in the ruined Castle Thrashstone. Invented the dimensional guitar to call beyond the realms of death and please the ears of the most elder gods of Centon.

Karn - Boar-like beasts that inhabit Witches Valley and southern Samur

Keep Trawston - The castle of Lady Steel. Home to the largest free market in all of Waylor. Stands east of Mount Tarvo on the Trawston plains.

Keep Vorn - Home of Baron Lotar, noted tyrant. Located in the northernmost part of Waylor, it serves as a kind of border crossing.

Lady Deathcrush - Travels with Hellmaster. Deathcrush assisted in the first contact with the Wyvern and was one of the heroes who perished when Demon Scourge killed the first group of metal warriors at Castle Thrashstone. Brought back to life by Vorthon the Whip of Fate and the second guard of metalheads.

Lady Steel - Mistress of the Trawston Plains and some lands to the south and east. Ruler of a warrior cult that protects refugees from the nearby tyrants.

Master Raknar - Master of a pleasure dungeon in Jenkabala City's Docktown area. Guided Bloodmace and Demon Scourge through the Sunam forest in their first encounter with the Wyvern.

Moloch the Painter - Mad artist from southern coastal Waylor. Helped to bring back the titans with the second wave of metal warriors.

Mount Raven - Mountain in southern Waylor where Bloodmace made his home before it was destroyed by Blun the Magnificent. Vorthon the Whip of Fate was trained in the dark arts there.

Mount Tarvo - Mountain in northern Waylor where the body of Bloodhammer was buried when he was imprisoned in another dimension. Second tallest in the Waylorian range

Panopticon-Kentucky- Damn!! This was also an amazing album, and a milestone for black metal, the first successful melding of black metal and bluegrass, which would also make it a truly American folk metal album. While their previous efforts were somewhat meandering explorations of the burgeoning genre of ecological minded black metal, (kind of like Krallice with ADD), this is a more streamlined and focused concept album about Kentucky coal miners. Straight up bluegrass and folk songs are placed side by side with progressive minded scorchers, and more than occasionally do the twain meet in the same song. This is one of those genre creating albums, but definitely one that should be approached with an open mind. Satan is no where to be found on this album. Or is he?

Nactan the Wanderer - Bloodmace and Demon Scourge met him on the way to Witches' Valley. Electronics Wizard. Accompanied the first group of metal warriors on the first quest for the Wyvern.

River Trimpor - Runs through Witches Valley, North of Jenkabala. Home of the Sauron and Clan Parth.

Samur - The area to the north of Jenkabala. Home of the Wyvern elders, the T'Chah Karnac, Iron Dan, Ophelia Skullbourne, and Fester Blackheart. Often referred to as the "soul of Centon," Samur is home to many cults and secret societies. Lake Chawa is a well known mystic training area due to its unusually high concentration of geomagical stones. Samur City is one of Centon's oldest continuously occupied settlement, though most of the north is a freezing wasteland. Birthplace of the denim and leather armor worn by Bloodmace, Demon Scourge, Mistress Crowbastard and Lars the Berserker.

Sourwood Trees - The oldest living things on Centon. Tremendous trees, some very ancient. It is said that a whole other world exists in the upper canopy. They grow all over the north of Centon, but mostly in Samur.

Tauriat - Device used to detect the ever changing dimensional fault lines in the Time Desert. Also can be used to detect certain kinds of magical traps. Consists of a greenish crystal suspended in a frame of polished alloy. Glows when near s source of power. Those able to read it's subtle oscillations can determine the distance of any potential danger.

Thantor the Bard, Poet of Antov - A poet who became a leader of caravans across the Time Desert, Thantor was lured into Castle Thrashstone by Vorthon after the death of the first generation of metal warriors. Joining Vorthon on his quest to resurrect Bloodmace, Demon Scourge and the rest, he was killed in a battle on the Trawston Plains.

Theeba - Large four legged lizards with pearlescent scales, raised as beasts of burden in Waylor for their ability to cling to the rocky terrain. Standing upwards of seven feet tall, they are also frequently used for military duty.

Time Desert - An area between Jenkabala and Waylor that runs from the Artana sea in the west to the Sarlonian ocean in the east, bisecting the continent with a swath of wasteland that runs about 400 earth miles north and south. This is the place where Headron first tried to burst into the physical world and was stopped by Bloodhammer and Thandra. Later the site of Castle Thrashstone, home first to the royal son of Clan Parth, Ka-Taw. Exiled by his people, he built the castle and changed his name to Hellmaster. After his death at the hands of Demon Scourge, the castle was inhabited by Vorthon the Whip of Fate and Hell Wraith. The Time Desert is also an area of dimensional storms that can swallow unwary travelers almost without warning.

Tolar the Mystic - A shape shifting denizen of the underworld, Tolar the Mystic always appears in different bodies. He (or she as the case may be) often speaks in riddles.

Vorthon the Whip of Fate - A mystic who took up residence in Castle Thrashstone after Demon Scourge killed his party there and partially destroyed it. Gathered together the second band of metal warriors and successfully revived all members of of Demon Scourge's ill fated party.

Yerda - Monsters found in the caves of northern Jenkabala. Humanoid in form, they hunt by sending one of the pack to engage in a battle. The rest feed on the psychic energy, then when the warrior is exhausted, the pack swoops down to finish them.

Zodron the Minstrel - Companion of Bloodmace and Demon Scourge, Headron of Dantor possessed his body and tried to destroy them, sending them on an epic quest.

Pallbearer-Sorrow and Extinction-I'm not to sure about this one. It was on the top practically every list that I read, but ol' Demon Scourge and myself just weren't feeling it that night. It's not a bad album, and I do love me some funeral doom, but music at 6 miles an hour just wasn't what we wanted to hear. This is pure Sabbath, Vitus, and Cathedral worship, but I would just as soon listen to those bands. Then again, this may be the kind of album that seeps into your brain and takes you over after the 4th listen. Otherwise, it's way overrated.