Le dernier des travaux d'Hercules - Sortilège night and the attack on the Nest of Evil

It was the first week of Kale-monath when Bloodmace was called for battles in the south, leaving Vecton and I to tend to the priestly duties at Jenkabala Temple. It was Moonday and the restless barbarian rode before the sabbath. I knew something was amiss when I arived at the dim and dangerous bar where Vecton weaves his tales of the hundred gods to drunken revelers. The bard whirled around in his barstool, a maniacal grin on his face, "Sortilège," He shouted, "We must pay tribute to the old masters, the dragon kings, the Gaelic gods!" Several large soldiers had now begun watching us, but Vecton was undeterred. Hands waiving wildly in the air, the weird mystic works his magic and with a clap of his hands, a bright bolt of lightning transports us inside Jenkabala Temple. 

The first album of the night was the Sortilège EP, a five song affair from 1983. Even at this stage in their career, this band was pretty legit. As with most young bands from the early eighties, the influences are worn on the sleeve. Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, you know the score, but the sum here is far greater than its individual components. Great introduction to this band and an energetic kickoff to the action that follows. 

Into the Necro Lands Part  7.1 - chasse le dragon

Ophelia, Fester and Losi followed us, riding on the spiders that had been our mode of transport in the root caverns below. Tesa's fiery sword cut through dead flesh, scattering the anatomy of any opponent foolish enough to challenge her, while laser bolts from the attack spiders peppered the battlefield. The sheer number of attackers was overwhelming though. They swarmed around us like flies until we

were smothered in their stinking bodies. Just as Tesa's sword could cut no more she gave the signal, "Schmoon! Schmoon!" Bloodmace reached down to the Stryper patch and the Garm began to do its work. His body convulses violently as the undead begin do drop where they are. The necromancers spell is broken. Corpses lie everywhere in various states of dismemberment, but the eleven living sentry still rush towards us, their faces contorted with rage as they approach. "Stop where you are, vermin!" Yells the black armored leader, pointing a laser pistol at my brother and I. Unfortunately for him, he sees not Maddaughter Tesa's blade as it glides silently through the chill air. He cries out and the others open fire, but their pistols are hampered by the spell of the Stryper patch. The battle spiders return fire and beat back our opponents, but Bloodmace cannot keep the spell going forever and I can see that he is about to come out of his Garm trance and the enemy will have a chance to use their magic again. I call out to the others, "Get ready, he's about to wake up!"

 

The next album, Métamorphose comes out of the gate a more polished, heavier beast. Cristian Augistin tears the hell out of the opening ripper, D'ailleurs and its mid tempo follow up, Majesté. Hymn à la Mort slows things down and offers a longer, multi part structure for the band to stretch out. Three more riff tunes, another longer more progressive sounding piece and one hell of a guitar break in Cyclope de L'étang round out this great album, leaving the last word for the melodic title track. Clocking in at a listenable thirty four minutes, this album could easily taken the night, but the boys from Île-de-France had one more album in them before going their separate ways, a hidden bloom on the spiky vine of heavy metal...

Into the Necro Lands Part 7.2 - Cyclope de L'étang

The spell ends with bloodmace diving for cover, just as Necro Baby's minions move in on him. One by one the dead begin to reanimate and fierce explosions from their master's weapons surround us. Tesa, fearless as usual, rushes towards the guns with a harrowing battle cry. Blood flies everywhere and the two cloaked Necromancers lie on the ground in pieces. Whirling to see our friends Fester and Ophelia beset by twenty or so rotting corpses, I swiftly grab hold of my Anthrax patch and

concentrate on the rhythm of the Garm and when I feel myself sync with the mechanical enchantment amplifier, I send the spell. The lifeless foes begin to mosh uncontrollably until their bodies fall into a quivering pile, but the odds are grim, for no matter how many we kill, there are more that rush in to take their place until, finally, we are defending ourselves from an enemy that has us surrounded on all sides. Gore covers the snow, melting it down to the bare ground in some spots and the air is filled with inhuman moans and cries. I am about to make a final death charge into the waiting crowd when I feel myself lifted off the ground. Stealing a glance upward at my captor I am overjoyed to see that I have been rescued by a tremendous crow. Mistress Crowbastard has returned. She carries me over the crowd and I can see the Nest of Evil not far away. We circle down and the shape shifting guardian drops me on the other side of the battle. Tumbling down, I already regret that Bloodmace and his Stryper patch are not with me. I rack my brain for a solution. I could destroy some of them with any of these spells but the damage an evil spell can do to a necromancer's creations is limited. It's then that I remember the special patch given to me my Rangar in Dantor. Reaching behind me, I grab the Mournful Congregation patch, latch on to the Garm's oscillations and let loose the magic. A wave of silence hits the combatants as despair grips their souls. The undead warriors fall again to the ground and the remaining necromancers hang their heads, wandering aimlessly in the gloom. Aided my Mistress Crowbastard, I quickly rush my brothers and sisters inside the comparative safety of the Nest of Evil, where we can protect them from hurting themselves.

 

 

Larmes de Héros, this was the one that pushed to the front of the pack, even though it was the last album and ear fatiuge had set in. I would liken this album to their "Keeper of the Seven Keys" or "Master of Disguise," a great classic metal masterpiece with plenty of dynamics and interesting songwriting spread over the epic masterstroke. Flawless victory.

Words of the Elders

Go now children, run to the red moon! Run to the crying mountaintops and look over the land. There is a great black fog over the Centonian plains that brings death to the once peaceful kingdoms adjacent to the necro lands. Palms in the moonlight, palms in the sea. palms are the eyes of the world when the good have been blinded. Fen, the great black duck, we call out to you! Heed us, thy supplicants! 

Until next week,winter wizards, 

Horns

Shroud of Doom - Rigor Mortis Night and Chanthoth's Secret Passages

There two types of Metal Night. The one that is most famous are the social events that we are renowned for; the drunken debaucheries, the shenanigans, the bastard wildings of metal barbarians enthralled with the spirit of Dionysus. In other words, it's a listening party. And then there are the ones when I am alone with Demon Scourge. And we just kinda stare at each other. Then we decide on what we are to hear. And we have drinks. And then we expound at  length on the grand philosophy of metal. And then we try to kill each other with knives and clubs when we inevitably disagree on something before choosing a winner. And so it goes.

And this week we choose the highly underrated American thrash band Rigor Mortis. Their 1988 self titled debut is a classic thrash metal album and our winner of the night. It is a trebly blast of fast tremolo picking, spastic rhythms and a mildly goofy lyrical bent involving demons and gore. For 1988, this was on the for front of musical extremism, preparing the way for Cannibal Corpse and a whole generation of death metal fiends like a bunch of hesher John The Baptists. You will not find much in the way of epic songwriting or dynamics here. This is a straight forward thrash-a-thon.


Into the Necro Lands Part 6.1 - Welcome to Your Funeral

Deep below the soil in eastern Centon, the living tunnels of the T'Chah Karnac spread out in every direction. Seemingly endless corridors of spongy wood, bio-engineered by the ancient human wizards of Samur, connect the forgotten kingdoms and other places of power like unseen tendrils. We are mounted atop the prickly haired backs of large spiders, scurrying with great haste toward Lady

Birdblood's Nest of Evil. At the front of our horde is Chanthoth, last of the Tchah Karnac. Riding just behind are Opheilia Skullbourne and Fester Blackheart, guerrilla fighters from northern Samur. Losi, Birdblood, Bloodmace and Maddaughter Tesa follow behind. I am the last in our party and my mind wanders as we race through the damp passages lit by glowing fungus. We left our home in Jenkabala only four days ago but it feels like an eternity, for even to return there would not be returning to home as Jenkabala Castle was destroyed by Necro Baby and her armies. Just as we defeated Headron, our greatest foe, another rose to take his place. Appointed mistress of Jenkabala and the Necro Lands by the ruthless dimensional villain, Necro Baby attacked us as we arrived from Narn. Faced with retreat, the powerful witch destroyed our stronghold and returned to the west where the forces of the undead could gather strength. Immediately, construction began on our new fortress, Jenkabala Temple. The
task was nearing completion when Lady Birdblood came to us with the disturbing report of butchery on the border so off we went, not with an army, but just the five of us. Our objective was to take back the Nest of Evil and free its people from the hateful toddler's spell before word got back to the Necro Lands, but we were spotted on the way and went on the run. Just as we were about to confront our enemy, Chanthoth appeared and escorted us to his secret lair. From the front of the party, I can hear Chanthoth call out, "We'll camp here for the night." We follow our guide through an archway and behold a breathtaking vista.

Next we heard their caustic little EP Freaks. It's essentially a continuation of their basic grisly thrash formula, but a little faster and a thicker production. There is more out and out shredding and heroic musicianship here, without sacrificing the brutality, namely because the vocals are so damn rough and the drumming is pretty straightforward still. This might have gotten my vote for winner of the night had there been more of it.

 Into the Necro Lands Part 6.2 - SOG

I can scarcely believe the strange panorama that greets me as I follow the others into the immense chamber. The wood gives way to a stone cavern where light filters down from an opening high above us. I turn to Bloodmace and exclaim, "This is an exact replica..." Chanthoth steps toward us, "Of the Memphorian's dwelling on the island of Va in Narn?" Bloodmace and I look at the weird wizard in disbelief, a flood of memories rushing over us. "This base was abandoned long ago" Chanthoth

continues, "But the Garm should still be operative. We will set up camp there on the little island." He points out to the middle of the vast underground cave where, just as on Va, there was a lake with a tree covered piece of land sitting in the middle. Already, Ophelia and Fester are hiking down to the shore with Losi, Tesa and Birdblood. Bloodmace and I are following the stubble-faced magic user down the rugged path, My brother calls ahead, "Chanthoth, I have only heard of one such device, are there more?" Chuckling at the barbarian's boldness, the fallen master replies, "You are so eager to know, young prince. All will be revealed to you by and by. For now however, we will be working on the Garm. We must disrupt Necro Baby's spell if we plan to triumph over the tiny one." The others are waiting by a small dock where a battered dingy sits tethered to the weathered posts. Two by two, Fester paddles us across the smooth waters to the sandy beach on the other side. Hiking to the center of the palm and fern covered mound, we behold the mechanical enchantment amplifier where a small moss covered cabin sits nearby. Chanthoth motions to us, "Let us rest, there is much to be done before our raid on the Nest of Evil."

Lastly, Rigor Mortis Vs. The Earth provided the last lobotomy of the evening. This is their last entry and perhaps their accidental avant-gard album. Thrash was dead by this point and there are more punk and industrial reference points here, though thrash riffery still rules the day. Guitarist Mike Scaccia was enjoying success with Ministry, and the influence shows. The production is less harsh than previous albums. The lyrical goofiness is quite pronounced; all B-movie hype, tongue firmly in hollow cheek. It's pretty cool, yet not quite as essential as their previous work. The band called it a day after this one. The drummer went on to be in punk band REO Speedealer. Mike Scaccia died in 2010 .

Words of the Elders

Out in the madness, the winds of mayhem blow cold and unforgiving and in the eye of the storm stand the heroes of Centon. Pledging allegiance to none but the hundred gods they stalk the wasteland to bring justice to this untamed land. Lilies of violence bloom in the fertile black earth, waiting to entrap the seven warriors in their fearful snare, but these warriors of metal have the flaming chariots of Narn riding with them. Godspeed, brave challengers, tonight the candles burn bright for your safe return! 

Until next week, unkempt hordes, 




Horns