Loading ...
You will be redirected
|
| CDcame out the 02 July 1991 - Earache Records |
 |
You must be logged to rate this album
1. Dawn Of Eternity
2. Cryptic Remains
3. Biohazard
4. Chamber Of Ages
5. From Beyond
6. Defeat Remains
7. Succubus
8. Symbolic Immortality
9. Corpsegrinder |
|
|
|
| Review |
 16 / 20 |
|
Well this is
technically an old release, and I'm supposed to be concentrating on new
ones at the moment, but since I only just managed to get myself a copy
of this, it's technically new for me. Massacre are best known for being
made up of a number of ex-Death members, most notably guitarist Rick
Rozz and vocalist Kam Lee. After working with Chuck Schuldiner on genre
classics 'Leprosy' and 'Spiritual Healing', they decided to form their
own separate band from Death, and thus rose Massacre. Their debut album
'From Beyond' was released in 1991 (but many of the tracks were written
in the 80s, hence the slightly dated sound by this point), and ignoring
the garish cover for a second, is a pretty apt descriptor of the early
death metal sound.
Opening track
'Dawn of Eternity' has, for me, a classic intro of a howling wind and
tolling bell, and it instantly captures that early 90s atmosphere;
trying to make everything sound evil. The songs have the similar
thrashy death metal sound that characterised early Death, but Kam Lee
possesses what was once the original growling vocal style (although now
we know its been totally done to death, it must have been startlingly
original at the time). His vocal style, while being low and vicious
sounding, loses very little coherency and you can still make out a
number of the lyrics. The album is full of great riffing sections,
mixing it up with faster, thrashier riffs and a chunkier set of
chugging riffs, adding a much needed variety. Coupled this with squalls
of guitar solos, hurtling in your direction with little respect for
tonality or talent but more in the creation of a foreboding sense of
madness. It was all about creating atmosphere with early death metal,
and Massacre achieved that.
With regards
to song writing, it is pretty much standard fare for the time, although
the album possesses a couple of gems in 'Chamber of Ages', the title
track and 'Cryptic Realms', but being having such an illustrious
personnel, the album suffers from too many Death-isms. Unique enough to
stand out but too similar to create a legacy of its own, 'From Beyond'
is a lost classic, revered when remembered but largely forgotten about.
While never
reaching the heights of Death, Obituary or Morbid Angel, 'From Beyond'
should still be regarded as a landmark of early Floridian death metal;
its personnel and style should grant it that at least. But the band
have managed to create some excellent songs in amongst the brutality,
and even though it sounds pretty dated now, I 'll bet it melted some
minds back in the day.
 1 comment |
|
|
