Death Metal: A Voyage of (Re-)Discovery
As most Academy regulars who know me are probably aware, I am massively into Doom, Thrash and Black Metal. I think I have a reasonable appreciation of these genres, including a decent grasp of their origins and development. However, although there are many Death Metal albums I enjoy, I am not a massive adherent and have only really dabbled in the genre. One of the reasons for this is that I have no real historical connection to it and I haven't immersed myself in it as much as maybe I should have. Now this seems a great shame because, as I have said, there is much DM that I enjoy and it is undoubtedly one of the central pillars of Metal, but my discovery has been a bit haphazard and, consequently, hit and miss.
So, to get to the point, I have decided to go back in time to the mid-eighties and begin again with a Death Metal voyage of discovery and am using this thread to catalogue my progress. I think it may be an interesting experience as someone who only has limited experience and knowledge of such a fundamental metal genre tries to get to grips with it's various vagaries and undoubted appeal (at least for me, but hopefully others may get something out of it too). Needless to say, I expect this to be a fairly long-term project and I won't be devoting myself to it exclusively by any means, but hope to return to it on a reasonably regular basis. I am hoping some of you Horde members will help me out maybe by suggesting relevant releases I should be checking out or helping to educate me in the ways of Death Metal and help make it a more collaborative experience. Also, if you think it's a dumb idea then don't be shy, please let me know.
I decided to start in 1984 with some demos from bands recognised as influential in the development of early death metal:
Possessed - Death Metal EP (1984)
A 1984 three-track demo, all three of which would turn up on Seven Churches: Death Metal, Evil Warriors and Burning in Hell. Obviously, the production isn't great, but it isn't completely terrible either and the tracks still sound pretty good, exhibiting a lot of the energy and aggression their later versions would exude in excess. The only problem is with Burning in Hell, the production is unable to handle the track's extreme tempo and it's faster parts just become a fairly incoherent aural blur.
Death - Death By Metal EP (1984)
Legendary five-track cassette demo from 1984 that has all the expected production issues, yet despite that it still manages to give an idea of how vital and aggressive Death's early tracks were. Opener Legion of Doom is a slower tempo piece that just sounds fucking evil through and through. The band are obviously very young and more than a little sloppy, but there is enough on show here to indicate where they were trying to get to and the fact that they could write a decent fucking riff, such as on Evil Dead. Despite it's poor sound this is a really interesting early Death demo and has legendary status for good reason.
Genocide - Toxic Metal EP (1984)
An eight-minute, three-track demo from the band that would become Repulsion. The sound isn't great, but it does have an energy and vitality that comes across even in such primitive form. The three tracks are out-and-out, hi-energy, extreme thrash metal, no more no less and are well worth checking out if you are a fan of the thrash metal underground.
Tracks: Armies of the Dead, Satan's Whores and Crack of Doom.
A couple more demos from 1985:
Possessed - 1985 Demo
An eleven minute, three track demo featuring tracks, Fallen Angel, Swing of the Axe and Death Metal. Tracks 1 and 3 would end up being the closing brace of tracks on Seven Churches and Swing of the Axe was featured as the opening track on Metal Blade's Metal Massacre VI compilation. Typical eighties demo quality sound, but the sound issues can't dampen the exhilharation induced by these heart-pumping slices of metallised adrenaline.
Mutilator - Grave Desecration EP
Mutilator hailed from Belo Horizonte in Brazil, home of Sepultura and this early demo is very much in the same vein - super-aggressive extreme thrash with gruff, growling vocals from singer Sílvio Gomes, who was actually a roadie for Sepultura (and still is I believe). Guitarist Alexander "Magoo" also turned down a chance to join Sepultura in 1987 when Jairo Guedz left the band. The sound is quite poor and doesn't really do the three tracks justice but does show that thrash metal in Brazil was moving in a more extreme direction.
Metal Blade Records - Metal Massacre VI (compilation)
I was only concerned with listening to Possessed's contribution, Swing of the Axe, which is the first track and so I didn't delve any further than that. Swing of the Axe is a pretty good slab of thrash, but I can maybe see why it didn't make it onto Seven Churches. The comp also features tracks from Hallows Eve, Hirax, Dark Angel and The Obsessed so I'll maybe have to check the whole album out at some point.
And so to the first contender for the title of "First Ever Death metal Album"
Possessed - Seven Churches (1985)
I wish I could say that I have been a fan of Seven Churches since it first came out, that it changed my metal world and set me on my path to extreme metal appreciation, but unfortunately I was never so cool that I got into underground metal as soon as it was released, especially as, at the time, I lived in the arse-end of nowhere in England's industrial north west where the metal underground was on another planet entirely and the metal community I was part of numbered only one - me. Anyway, despite coming to it late, it was still instantly obvious, even to me, that, given the date of release, this is one hell of an influential album in the evolution of death metal.
Possessed were born out of the rarified atmosphere of the early eighties Bay Area thrash scene and although their sound would indicate that they were heavily influenced by Slayer, they themselves always cited Exodus and Venom as their main influences (quite plausibly I suppose, if you think about it). They released a demo in 1984 featuring three tracks which would eventually turn up on Seven Churches, Evil Warriors, Burning in Hell and of course, Death Metal. After playing a few shows with them, Exodus got Metal Blade interested and the track Swing of the Axe (featured on their second demo and a blistering track in it's own right that sadly doesn't appear on Seven Churches) was featured as the opener on the compilation Metal Massacre VI. This track got the attention of Combat Records and Possessed were offered a deal, releasing their debut full-length in 1985. The rest, as they say, is history. Now, is this the first death metal album? Personally I don't think so as it still retains a huge amount of thrash metal DNA, but Possessed had definitely pushed thrash to it's limit and had introduced elements that would be expounded upon later by true death metal outfits like Death and Morbid Angel.
So to the album itself and after the Tubular Bells intro, The Exorcist bursts from the speakers like a wild animal, tearing through your eardrums with an aggression and savagery that had been unthought of at this point in '85. Sure Slayer were plenty aggressive, but this opening salvo from the new boys was on a whole new level and it becomes apparent very early on that there is to be no respite from this blitzkrieg until the last notes have played out. The production first off isn't anything like as clear as the majority of metal albums you would hear in 1985, it's slight echoey sound possibly being the first iteration of that quintessential cavernous sound that became so requisite of old-school death metal. The riffs are tore through at breakneck pacing and are ridiculously heavy, the soloing is straight out of the Jeff Hannemann school of blistering, psychotic-sounding and squealing guitar torturing. Jeff Becerra's vocals and satanic / demonic lyrics went even further into the extreme than Tom Araya, his half scream / half growl paving the way for more and more vocal extremity in metal as subsequent singers tried to sound even more "evil" than the Possessed frontman. The drums are more in keeping with the thrash metal zeitgeist, not really possessing the blastbeat-heavy pummelling of true death metal drumming and are one of the main reasons why I still consider this mainly a thrash album. But of course there's that final track and, much like Venom with Black Metal, the band are at least assured a mention in the death metal conversation having coined the genre name. Every track here is killer and still sound great now, closing in on forty (count 'em) years later. This album has every right to be mentioned alongside thrash greats like Reign in Blood and Master of Puppets for it's sheer aggression and an almost tangible evilness and whether it is death or thrash metal is moot because either way it is a classic metal album in it's own right.
Sadly, Possessed never approached this level of awesome again in my opinion, but does that really matter because what they produced here was a catalyst and a precursor to one of the most prolific extreme music genres in history and most definitely secured them a legacy and immortality beyond the vinyl grooves of a mere record into the collective folklore of metal - listen to early Morbid Angel and Possessed's influence is plain for all to hear.
5/5
Having undertaken a very similar journey through the early years of death metal some years back, I'm totally on board to witness your own. We can compare notes. 
I decided to start in 1984 with some demos from bands recognised as influential in the development of early death metal:
Possessed - Death Metal EP (1984)
A 1984 three-track demo, all three of which would turn up on Seven Churches: Death Metal, Evil Warriors and Burning in Hell. Obviously, the production isn't great, but it isn't completely terrible either and the tracks still sound pretty good, exhibiting a lot of the energy and aggression their later versions would exude in excess. The only problem is with Burning in Hell, the production is unable to handle the track's extreme tempo and it's faster parts just become a fairly incoherent aural blur.
This demo was pretty much essential in the tape trading scene of the late 80's/early 90's so I'm very familiar with it & think it shows us the transition between thrash & death metal quite nicely. To be honest I don’t think the three songs on the “Death Metal” demo truly fall into the death metal category just yet, instead sounding more along the lines of the more extreme thrash metal that was to come out of Europe in the coming years but it’s impossible to deny that many of the key elements of the early death metal sound are already in effect & the early works of bands like Death & Morbid Angel would likely have sounded very different if not for this cassette. The production is quite good for a demo tape of the time & is entirely listenable but the three songs differ in style a fair bit which is a strong indication that the band were still defining their signature sound. The rhythm section put in a pretty basic & relatively safe performance so there’s not much to get excited about there. The real highlights come in the form of the intense & thrashy guitar riffs & Becerra’s aggressive vocal delivery which was about as extreme as we’d heard out of America to the time. Becerra’s gruff & grunty approach seems to be a combination of Venom’s Cronos & Motorhead’s Lemmy Killmeister to my ears & by today’s standards it would be debatable as to whether he would qualify as a legitimate death metal vocalist or not but I can only imagine that he must have scared the crap out of a few first time listeners back in the day. The guitar solos of Mike Torrao & Brian Montana are very chaotic & lack a bit of musicality & technique to be honest. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they were improvised because they have very little structure about them but they certainly don’t lack enthusiasm. Surprisingly, I find that on more than one occasion they lack a rhythm guitar track behind them too which is strange for a two guitar band. Perhaps it’s just been mixed poorly & is lacking in volume? I’m not too sure but there’s little doubt that Possessed would have benefited from having less of a sonic dropout every time these solos kicks off. Overall though, I've always considered this demo to be a pretty enjoyable listen despite its age & the primitive execution which is a credit to Possessed’s abilities as song-writers. I mean you can be as extreme as all hell but if the songs aren’t there then you’ll have very little staying power. If we take a look at the individual songs on offer, the title track may well have been the source for the naming of the death metal genre but it’s quite obviously an example of Venom worship with the song “Black Metal” clearly having been the primary source of inspiration. I’d also suggest that it’s borrowed pretty heavily from Slayer’s “Evil Has No Boundaries” too but it’s a fun listen nonetheless. Slayer’s “Show No Mercy” record was likely the inspiration for “Evil Warriors” as well which is the most straight-up thrash number. I don’t find it to be as appealing as the other two tracks to be honest. I think it’s that it’s lacking that death metal edge which the closing track “Burning In Hell” has in spades. It’s probably my favourite of the three songs & it reminds me very much of the more extreme early German thrash releases from bands like Destruction & Kreator. It’s the fastest & most chaotic & brutal number & comes the closest to fully-fledged death metal. Check out the riff that comes in at around the one minute mark which shows the obvious influence Possessed had on an early Morbid Angel.
3.5/5
Death - Death By Metal EP (1984)
Legendary five-track cassette demo from 1984 that has all the expected production issues, yet despite that it still manages to give an idea of how vital and aggressive Death's early tracks were. Opener Legion of Doom is a slower tempo piece that just sounds fucking evil through and through. The band are obviously very young and more than a little sloppy, but there is enough on show here to indicate where they were trying to get to and the fact that they could write a decent fucking riff, such as on Evil Dead. Despite it's poor sound this is a really interesting early Death demo and has legendary status for good reason.
Despite the general consensus pointing to Possessed's "Death Metal" demo, I've always thought that Death's "Death By Metal" was the true birth of true death metal, despite its tendency to emulate Possessed. I just find that it manages to push over that line in ways that Possessed couldn't manage consistently at that early stage. In saying that though, I get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the Possessed demo but none of the Death ones hold up to much scrutiny other than from a purely historical perspective these days in my opinion. "Reign Of Terror" probably came the closest to being something I can genuinely say that I enjoy but still fell a little short. 2/5 for "Death By Metal" from me.
Death - Death By Metal EP (1984)
Legendary five-track cassette demo from 1984 that has all the expected production issues, yet despite that it still manages to give an idea of how vital and aggressive Death's early tracks were. Opener Legion of Doom is a slower tempo piece that just sounds fucking evil through and through. The band are obviously very young and more than a little sloppy, but there is enough on show here to indicate where they were trying to get to and the fact that they could write a decent fucking riff, such as on Evil Dead. Despite it's poor sound this is a really interesting early Death demo and has legendary status for good reason.
Despite the general consensus pointing to Possessed's "Death Metal" demo, I've always thought that Death's "Death By Metal" was the true birth of true death metal, despite its tendency to emulate Possessed. I just find that it manages to push over that line in ways that Possessed couldn't manage consistently at that early stage. In saying that though, I get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the Possessed demo but none of the Death ones hold up to much scrutiny other than from a purely historical perspective these days in my opinion. "Reign Of Terror" probably came the closest to being something I can genuinely say that I enjoy but still fell a little short. 2/5 for "Death By Metal" from me.
I must admit, it is a little bit intimidating discussing Death Metal with guys so obviously well-versed in the genre as our Horde members, as my knowledge of it is severely lacking, but that is why I'm doing this in the first place. I will always say what I think, but if any of you think I'm full of shit please don't be afraid to say so.
I think it's fair to say that Death are nearer to what is accepted as death metal than Possessed, certainly at this point. It's difficult to assess in looking back retroactively as obviously Death Metal didn't yet exist as a separate entity, so in appraising retroactively the perception of these demos is coloured by our foreknowledge of what Death Metal would become, whereas at the time they had to be taken on their own merits and it is obvious that both Possessed and Death were pushing the envelope of metal extremity. As I said, I really love that opening track, Legion of Doom but I think Evil Dead is great too.
Luckily, and I know there are those who won't believe me, but I don't struggle much with shitty sound issues and I try to hear beyond the physical limitations of the recordings, so I genuinely do get a ton of enjoyment out of these early demos.
I can assure you that your opinion is no less valid than anyone else's Sonny. And for the record, I was raised on shitty bootlegged cassette tapes through the tape trading scene so the medium has never been a complete deal breaker for me either although I certainly think it places an upper cap on my scoring potential at times.
I don't think I've ever heard the Genocide, Mutilator or Metal Massacre releases you discussed but I'm obviously well versed in "Seven Churches" as I was first introduced to it around 1989/90. I think my feelings on it may surprise a few people though because, despite the fact that I find it to be a really enjoyable & important record, I have to admit that I've never found it to be as overwhelmingly impressive as most death metal fans seem to. It just doesn't quite seem to be the finished product that some of it's peers would produce in the coming years but I'd admittedly already been introduced to Death's first couple of albums by the time our paths crossed. I don't think death metal overtook my thrash obsession until Morbid Angel & Carcass came along with their 1989 classics to be honest. In saying all that, I do categorically think "Seven Churches" is a death metal record & the very first proper release for the genre. It simply shares too many characteristics with the early death metal classics not to be regarded alongside them. Nothing Possessed did afterwards is anything but pure thrash metal though & I think Jeff's been telling porkys about his influences because the Slayer plagiarism was totally blatant on those mid-to-late 80's records. "Seven Churches" is a 3.5/5 for me personally. Interestingly, if you held a gun to my head & made me choose I'd actually take Sepultura's death/thrash debut E.P. "Bestial Devastation" (which was released just two months afterwards) over it these days (particularly the 1990 re-release with the re-recorded version of "Troops Of Doom" on it).
I have always approached Seven Churches from a thrash metal perspective so that may be why I score it higher than yourself Daniel, because when considered as a thrash album it is undeniably fucking brutal. I agree about the Slayerisms present in Possessed's material, I dont know if Jeff was just fucking with everybody, but the Slayer influence isn't really up for debate is it? Apparenttly he was massive mates with the Exodus guys, so maybe he gave them a nod to keep them sweet.
What do you think about the production on Seven Churches? Do you think that echoey, "cavernous" sound it possesses was particularly influential on bands like Autopsy and the other death/doom bands of the early nineties?
Another trio of demos this time from 1986, from Genocide (Repulsion), Death and Mutilator:
Genocide: The Stench of Burning Death EP (1986)
The final demo from Genocide before they changed their name to Repulsion is an important release in the US grind world. It is pretty rough sounding but it's twelve tracks are brutal and unforgiving grindcore, most of which would eventually end up on Horrified. The guitars struggle a bit to be heard, but it is an interesting demo nonetheless as it is hard to believe it didn't influence the emergent death metal bands as well as the grindcore scene.
I don't intend to delve any further into grindcore at this point, but merely use the Genocide demos as an indicator as to where extreme metal was at in 1986. A journey through the world of grindcore may well be a project for the future!
Death - Mutilation EP (1986)
Three-track demo recorded in San Francisco on April 12th & 13th 1986. Tracks are: Land of No Return, Zombie Ritual and Mutilation, the second and third finally appearing on Scream Bloody Gore. This demo sounds really good and the vocals sound particularly great, exuding an evil not even achieved on the debut LP. They have obviously come on quite a bit from the Death by Metal demo at this point and the sheer vitality and professionalism on show here are probably how they got their deal with Combat records - I would certainly have given them a deal on the strength of this demo!
Mutilator - Bloodstorm EP (1986)
A much better demo than '85's Grave Desecration, the sound here is very good indeed. The three tracks featured are Bloodstorm, Mutilator and Evil Conspiracy, the first two of which ended up on '87's debut album, Immortal Force. The track Bloodstorm sounds a real slab of evil death metal, although it seems to have been cut off quite abruptly. Definitely an illustration that Brazil was no mere backwater in the evolution of extreme metal in the 1980s.
Note that the demo depicted isn't this one it is the earlier Grave Desecration demo, but the audio is for Bloodstorm.
Messiah - Hymn to Abramelin (1986)
Well, this is certainly an interesting album in the evolution of metal during the mid-eighties. What is it with these Swiss bands that they can't just stick to one genre on an album? This one seems to blend thrash, black, death and doom metal into an unholy fucking stew of extreme metal - and all before some of these genres even really existed! Does this mean it's any good? Well actually, not necessarily because, to be honest, it is just such a fucking mess sometimes that it is hard to keep patience with it and what the hell is going on with the numerous spoken word intros? Unsurprisingly given my history, my favourite track was the doom metal of Space Invaders, this track and it's slower pacing being less sloppy and messy than most of the others, sounding a bit like Cathedral's Serpent Eve from Forest of Equilibrium. Future Agressor is quite decent too and kind of reminds me of Burzum's War from Varg's first album.
Full marks to them for trying to out-extreme virtually every other band on the planet, but minus points overall for the fact that they were actually, well.. a bit shit - enthusiastic for sure, but shit nonetheless. I know I have stated before that I would take enthusiasm and energy over technical adroitness, but this stretches the point. A curiosity release in the development of extreme metal and an interesting album for the metal historian, but nothing more than that I would say.
2.5/5
Messiah aren't everyone's cup of tea but I feel they deserve a lot more credit than they get. They were waay ahead of their time, on their second album they were writing borderline melodic death and melodic black metal years before the genres existed.
Look, I've always quite liked Messiah's "Hymn To Abramelin" to be honest. It's certainly not something I return to all that often but I think there's enough quality there to keep me interested. The problem I find with it though is that the tracklisting is so inconsistent with the quality levels differing greatly between excellent tracks like "Messiah" & "The Dentist" & disposable stuff like "Anarchus" & "Future Agressor". Thankfully I find that the highlights are strong enough to carry the filler though. I've got it pegged for a 3.5/5 rating personally. It's probably worth mentioning that I've never seen it as a death metal record. It's a thrash metal release with black/speed metal influences to my ears. Actually Sonny, I think this exercise might be a good opportunity for you to help us get some of the genre tagging cleaned up on some of these early "death metal" releases by contributing an unbiased opinion.
I haven't heard either of those additional Genocide or Mutilator demos Sonny. I guess those must have passed me by until the debut albums. You've just reminded me about that Death "Mutilation" demo though because I'd completely forgotten about that one. I retract my previous overarching statement. That's a pretty reasonable demo from memory & I remember enjoying it more than their 1984/85 ones.
Look, I've always quite liked Messiah's "Hymn To Abramelin" to be honest. It's certainly not something I return to all that often but I think there's enough quality there to keep me interested. The problem I find with it though is that the tracklisting is so inconsistent with the quality levels differing greatly between excellent tracks like "Messiah" & "The Dentist" & disposable stuff like "Anarchus" & "Future Agressor". Thankfully I find that the highlights are strong enough to carry the filler though. I've got it pegged for a 3.5/5 rating personally. It's probably worth mentioning that I've never seen it as a death metal record. It's a thrash metal release with black/speed metal influences to my ears.
I can hear thrash, black, doom and some death metal here, with a thrash primary and rhe others as secondary genres, but even then the black and death metal aspects aren't fully-formed. This general "try a bit of everything" approach is the album's great failing and the reason for it's inconsistency. Oh, and the spoken intros are horrible. But it IS an interesting release for anyone who is interested in the development of extreme metal. Again, this is an album I have only become aware of by doing this project, so as much as I am trying not to, I am coming at it with modern prejudices and it still sounds a bit of a mess to me - not without it's moments it must be said, but still a mess.
What is becoming increasingly obvious as my project proceeds is that the eighties were a kind of primordial swamp of metal music from which the earliest forms of extreme metal genres emerged to further evolve into distinct entities on the dry land of the nineties. Albums like Hymn to Abremalin were probably only possible then because everything was still up for grabs and although conventional thrash was quite well established at this point, black and death metal were still being distilled and refined from a thrash foundation and even doom metal still had much evolution to go through before reaching it's more extreme forms. Interesting times indeed weren't they?
Again, this is an album I have only become aware of by doing this project, so as much as I am trying not to, I am coming at it with modern prejudices and it still sounds a bit of a mess to me - not without it's moments it must be said, but still a mess.
I would argue that you don't display "modern prejudices" with other mid-80's extreme metal releases you're just being exposed to now Sonny so I don't think it's as big a deal as you may think. Your thoughts on the album are understandable in my opinion & if anyone has any unconscious bias then it's probably me who first encountered "Hymn To Abramelin" as a naïve & impressionable teenager who didn't have the power of the internet at his disposal over three decades ago.
Possessed - Beyond the Gates (1986)
Possessed's follow-up to Seven Churches was always going to have a struggle to live up to it's seminal older sibling. Beyond the Gates seems to see Possessed pull back from the abyss and doesn't pack the punch of Seven Churches, as the band settle for a more conventional thrash metal release, toning down the more extreme aspects of what made Seven Churches such compulsive listening. This doesn't make Beyond the Gates a poor album, it is a good album, no doubt about it. There are some terrific riffs, the band have tightened up and the production is very good. But therein lies the problem, especially within the scope of this thread - the chaotic, kinda messy sound of the debut contributed massively to it's apppeal for a lot of it's fans and the fact that the follow-up was cleaner and less extreme was seen as a negative and a backward step. While others were cranking-up the extremity in their sound, Beyond the Gates feels like a safe move. Ultimately your opinion of the album is going to depend on what you are looking for. If you just want to hear a really solid mid-eighties thrash album then roll on up because this has the goods, but if you want to hear a band developing the extreme sound of a landmark release even further down the rabbit hole then you will be disappointed I think.
4/5
Morbid Angel - Abominations of Desolation (recorded 1986/released 1991)
This was recorded in 1986 but was shelved by the band as they faced some lineup issues and were unhappy with the sound of the album. It was heavily bootlegged but eventually was cleaned up and given an official release by Earache in 1991 and this is the version I have been listening to. It's got to be said that this seems to raise the bar as far as metal extremity went in 1986 and you can't help but wonder if the argument about the first death metal album would have been well and truly been settled if it was put out at the time of recording. The riffs here sound like something beyond the ultra-aggressive thrash metal that was being produced by the most extreme bands at this time and more like a whole new thing entirely, Trey Azagthoth proving that from the very get-go he was ahead of the curve when it came to writing death metal riffs. In fact the riffing and the solos are the major draw for me here, their sheer brilliance somewhat overshadowing the other aspects of the album. Lyrically Morbid Angel looked to the Necronomicon for inspiration and consequently the lyrics are very much occult-centric. As many other commentators have pointed out, the weak point is drummer / vocalist Mike Browning and his performance behind both kit and mic may well be the reason that Abominations of Desolation was shelved (and his leaving the band, although an altercation with Trey over a girl is also cited as the reason for the latter).
To choose to shelve the album was a brave move really when you think about it, after having put the effort into producing a debut record, then holding off until they considered themselves better placed to produce a worthwhile release must have taken a great deal of discipline. Rather than just wanting to see their name on a record sleeve they took the conscious decision to wait and that must be applauded as it shows a band willing to go the extra mile to get across their true vision rather than settling for less. Most of the tracks here (all except for Demon Seed I believe) have been reworked and released on later albums, proving that they never felt the material itself was weak, but rather it didn't come across as they had envisioned in this form. On the whole, I would say this is not merely a release of historical importance in the emergent death metal scene of the 1980s, but is a decent release in it's own right and the perceived weaknesses aren't complete deal breakers for me, as the material and guitar work is still strong enough to give the recording value.
3.5/5
Sepultura - Morbid Visions (1986)
The version of Morbid Visions I have been listening to also has the Bestial Devastation tracks from the 1985 split with Overdose so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and cover both here. As much as I am a huge fan of the four albums from Schizophrenia onwards, I have never even listened to these earlier releases before now... and wow, what a treat they are! It is amazing to think that the Cavalera brothers were mere teenagers at the time, but the fearlessness of youth, I suspect, enabled them to produce a brace of releases that pushed the envelope of what was then considered extreme in the metal world.
First off, Max has got the best iteration of the death growl heard up to this point, being deeper and gruffer than most of the other frontmen of the time who's vocals still remained very much in the Tom Araya / Mille Petrozza barking style. The playing is a bit messy and some of the transitions aren't as smooth as people would like, but hell, they were still learning their craft and yet mananged to produce a fireball of furious riffing and incendiary soloing that gives a real insight into just how fucking awesome and ahead of the curve early Sepultura were. I am not a person who is impressed by flashy showmanship or technical wizardry (in fact, quite the opposite) so I may be better disposed to such an obviously flawed release as Morbid Visions because, for me, it succeeds by sheer force of will and energy in presenting something that is just so damn exciting I can't help but love it. This is heartfelt metal from a band of youngsters in it solely for the love of metal at this point and that ethos shines through really brightly on this debut album. It seems strange that this is never mentioned much in the conversation about early death metal releases because there seems to be plenty here that qualifies - Mayhem and War both sound very death metal to me and as a whole I would venture it is more death metal adjacent than Possessed's Seven Churches is. The production isn't great, the drums seem to be pushed too far to the fore, sometimes at the expense of the guitar and there isn't much by way of bottom end but, for me, this is only a minor issue and certainly isn't a deal breaker as far as future listening potential goes.
Bestial Devastations consists of an intro and four tracks, again the production leaves a lot to be desired (sounding a bit like Seven Churches production-wise) and the performance could be tighter, but all the tracks have great riffs and an infectious energy that true metal heads should find difficult to ignore. Both the split and debut full-length marked Sepultura out as a band who would most likely go places and were pretty extreme-sounding for 1986 and are deserving of being part of the conversation surrounding the development of death metal in the 1980s.
4/5
What do you think about the production on Seven Churches? Do you think that echoey, "cavernous" sound it possesses was particularly influential on bands like Autopsy and the other death/doom bands of the early nineties?
I've never made that connection to be honest. "Seven Churches" still had a pretty thrashy sound. I don't think they'd detuned their guitars & there's a fair amount of high end there. By comparison I would guess that Autopsy detuned three or four semitones on "Severed Survival" & there was a much stronger focus on bottom end.
Possessed - Beyond the Gates (1986)
Possessed's follow-up to Seven Churches was always going to have a struggle to live up to it's seminal older sibling. Beyond the Gates seems to see Possessed pull back from the abyss and doesn't pack the punch of Seven Churches, as the band settle for a more conventional thrash metal release, toning down the more extreme aspects of what made Seven Churches such compulsive listening. This doesn't make Beyond the Gates a poor album, it is a good album, no doubt about it. There are some terrific riffs, the band have tightened up and the production is very good. But therein lies the problem, especially within the scope of this thread - the chaotic, kinda messy sound of the debut contributed massively to it's apppeal for a lot of it's fans and the fact that the follow-up was cleaner and less extreme was seen as a negative and a backward step. While others were cranking-up the extremity in their sound, Beyond the Gates feels like a safe move. Ultimately your opinion of the album is going to depend on what you are looking for. If you just want to hear a really solid mid-eighties thrash album then roll on up because this has the goods, but if you want to hear a band developing the extreme sound of a landmark release even further down the rabbit hole then you will be disappointed I think.
4/5
"Beyond The Gates" certainly took a thrashier direction than the more obviously death metal oriented "Seven Churches" although there are still plenty of signs of the sound that was so influential on the early purveyers of death metal in my opinion. In fact, you can easily pick out some of the songs that Chuck Schuldiner used as the inspiration for Death's "Scream Bloody Gore" album. The song-writing is generally pretty good but the poor production does limit the records appeal pretty substantially. Some messy rhythm guitar performances don't help either but the brutal vocals of Jeff Becerra & the impressive lead guitar work of Larry Lalonde & Mike Torrao help to carry the album through to a reasonably rewarding result for me personally. It's just not as rewarding an experience as the debut was & I'd suggest that "Beyond The Gates" was the least impressive of Possessed's three 80's releases. It sounds very much like a combination of Slayer, Venom & Death to my ears.
3.5/5
Morbid Angel - Abominations of Desolation (recorded 1986/released 1991)
This was recorded in 1986 but was shelved by the band as they faced some lineup issues and were unhappy with the sound of the album. It was heavily bootlegged but eventually was cleaned up and given an official release by Earache in 1991 and this is the version I have been listening to. It's got to be said that this seems to raise the bar as far as metal extremity went in 1986 and you can't help but wonder if the argument about the first death metal album would have been well and truly been settled if it was put out at the time of recording. The riffs here sound like something beyond the ultra-aggressive thrash metal that was being produced by the most extreme bands at this time and more like a whole new thing entirely, Trey Azagthoth proving that from the very get-go he was ahead of the curve when it came to writing death metal riffs. In fact the riffing and the solos are the major draw for me here, their sheer brilliance somewhat overshadowing the other aspects of the album. Lyrically Morbid Angel looked to the Necronomicon for inspiration and consequently the lyrics are very much occult-centric. As many other commentators have pointed out, the weak point is drummer / vocalist Mike Browning and his performance behind both kit and mic may well be the reason that Abominations of Desolation was shelved (and his leaving the band, although an altercation with Trey over a girl is also cited as the reason for the latter).
To choose to shelve the album was a brave move really when you think about it, after having put the effort into producing a debut record, then holding off until they considered themselves better placed to produce a worthwhile release must have taken a great deal of discipline. Rather than just wanting to see their name on a record sleeve they took the conscious decision to wait and that must be applauded as it shows a band willing to go the extra mile to get across their true vision rather than settling for less. Most of the tracks here (all except for Demon Seed I believe) have been reworked and released on later albums, proving that they never felt the material itself was weak, but rather it didn't come across as they had envisioned in this form. On the whole, I would say this is not merely a release of historical importance in the emergent death metal scene of the 1980s, but is a decent release in it's own right and the perceived weaknesses aren't complete deal breakers for me, as the material and guitar work is still strong enough to give the recording value.
3.5/5
I’ve always had a lot of time for this release. It’s really pretty amazing to think that it was recorded way back in 1986. They were clearly already ahead of their peers & I’m left thinking this would have been regarded as a classic release had it been released back then. But at the same time I’m glad it wasn't released because it would have taken away from the greatness of the band's subsequent releases. Trey’s lead & rhythm guitar styles are already so developed at this stage. He really did create a fresh & original take on the death metal riff. The drumming is a little primitive in comparison to Pete Sandoval’s advanced skills so that’s the most obvious weak point. You actually can’t hear the kick drum much at all. The production is obviously pretty raw but it's not off-putting. Browning’s vocals do the job well enough but they don’t quite compete with Dave Vincent’s performances in my opinion. All things considered I find heaps to enjoy here though. The lyrics & song-titles vary from the final versions quite a bit & when combined with the two hilariously over-the-top intro tracks the album seems to possess an identity all of its own. These songs have been a big part of my life & I find these rawer versions to have an endearing quality that makes them a nice alternative to the classic versions. I consider this a must for Morbid Angel fans.
4/5
Sepultura - Morbid Visions (1986)
The version of Morbid Visions I have been listening to also has the Bestial Devastation tracks from the 1985 split with Overdose so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and cover both here. As much as I am a huge fan of the four albums from Schizophrenia onwards, I have never even listened to these earlier releases before now... and wow, what a treat they are! It is amazing to think that the Cavalera brothers were mere teenagers at the time, but the fearlessness of youth, I suspect, enabled them to produce a brace of releases that pushed the envelope of what was then considered extreme in the metal world.
First off, Max has got the best iteration of the death growl heard up to this point, being deeper and gruffer than most of the other frontmen of the time who's vocals still remained very much in the Tom Araya / Mille Petrozza barking style. The playing is a bit messy and some of the transitions aren't as smooth as people would like, but hell, they were still learning their craft and yet mananged to produce a fireball of furious riffing and incendiary soloing that gives a real insight into just how fucking awesome and ahead of the curve early Sepultura were. I am not a person who is impressed by flashy showmanship or technical wizardry (in fact, quite the opposite) so I may be better disposed to such an obviously flawed release as Morbid Visions because, for me, it succeeds by sheer force of will and energy in presenting something that is just so damn exciting I can't help but love it. This is heartfelt metal from a band of youngsters in it solely for the love of metal at this point and that ethos shines through really brightly on this debut album. It seems strange that this is never mentioned much in the conversation about early death metal releases because there seems to be plenty here that qualifies - Mayhem and War both sound very death metal to me and as a whole I would venture it is more death metal adjacent than Possessed's Seven Churches is. The production isn't great, the drums seem to be pushed too far to the fore, sometimes at the expense of the guitar and there isn't much by way of bottom end but, for me, this is only a minor issue and certainly isn't a deal breaker as far as future listening potential goes.
Bestial Devastations consists of an intro and four tracks, again the production leaves a lot to be desired (sounding a bit like Seven Churches production-wise) and the performance could be tighter, but all the tracks have great riffs and an infectious energy that true metal heads should find difficult to ignore. Both the split and debut full-length marked Sepultura out as a band who would most likely go places and were pretty extreme-sounding for 1986 and are deserving of being part of the conversation surrounding the development of death metal in the 1980s.
4/5
Bestial Devastation
Early Sepultura material is a real guilty pleasure for me as its evil necro atmosphere make me quite nostalgic despite the primitive production & performances. In fact, there's enough brutality on offer for half of these tracks to qualify as genuine death metal which makes it one of the earliest releases from the subgenre. Kinda sounds like a combination of the more brutal US bands like Slayer & Possessed crossed with the early Teutonic thrash material from Sodom & Kreator. 3.5/5 (4/5 for the re-release with the re-recorded version of "Troops of Doom")
Morbid Visions
Insert commentary from above only with a touch more intensity, better (if still decidedly inferior) drumming, less competent tuning & substantially more bass in the (admittedly still very raw) mix. Very similar quality overall though. This album absolutely belts the early Sodom releases in my opinion which shouldn't be a surprise when you consider just how many of these riffs the Seps boys reused on their classic albums a few years later. Prime time Brazilian death/thrash metal. 4/5