Review by Xephyr for Paul Chain - Detaching From Satan (1984)

The Next Link

The first half of the 80's was a massive and hellish explosion for heavy metal, with the inspiration for all types of satanic and evil music burning, swirling, and forming all kinds of interesting variations around the world that would shape how many metal sub-genres would be played today. Some inspirations burn a little slower and more sinister than others, and that's where Italy's Paul Chain drew his inspiration for this short classic of Traditional Doom Metal. Sluggy Sabbath-esque riffs combined with the driving drums and vocal style of NWOBM and more emphasis on atmosphere thanks to some lo-fi synths and sound effects give this experimental album a strangely passionate but slightly confusing impression.

Paul Chain's vocals take the spotlight for most of the album, with his range being strained more often than not as he goes for an abundance of high notes and wails on the first two tracks, with "Occultism" closing out with some fitting low, guttural barks. I actually enjoyed Chain's performance most of the time but the effects and overall production are what kill any enthusiasm I had, with the echo/reverb on "Armageddon" cutting in and out at different volumes and the low spoken word effects on "17 Day" not really hitting their mark. What does hit the mark is the riffs and overall guitar performance of this album, which have that tried and true mixture of old-school chug with Sabbath-like accents. Each track showcases a differing and well done style of riff from the slow and accented "Occultism", the driving and chuggy "Armageddon", the more progressive shred-fest of "Voyage to Hell", and finally the classic Doom style of "17 Day". It's a real shame that the production on some of these tracks, especially "17 Day", buries the guitar performance under overblown vocal effects and synth. Even the drums, which seem a bit more poignant on "Occultism", really hide the guitar which, for me, is the standout part of this album.

What's most fascinating for me travelling back to the beginnings of Doom Metal is how much more extreme the genre has gotten from these humble beginnings. As someone who mostly listens to newer metal releases, Detaching From Satan doesn't even resemble a Doom Metal album until "17 Day" because my expectations of a Doom release are aligned with the likes of Bell Witch and Runemagick. Nowadays the evilness of Doom releases are cranked up to epic proportions, since Paul Chain's first EP hardly even scratches the surface of the atmospheres of hatred and misery modern Doom albums can achieve. The only sections that gave Detaching From Satan that signature Doom Metal vibe were clunky and gratingly low quality, and most ended up not fitting the style of the rest of the song to begin with.

For a beginning EP at the infancy of a genre there is some great guitar work and "17 Day" is a fantastic example of how the Doom Metal package can all come together, but the rest is too rough either in production or ideas for me. There are a ton of influences packed into this initial attempt showing that regions other than England have what it takes to take Sabbath's fundamental Heavy Metal style and take it in a different, but effective direction.