Usurper – Threshold of the Usurper [1997]

Usurper was a relatively primitive black/thrash metal band from Chicago. They split up in 2007 and left us a respectable discography of killer old-school metal. “Threshold of the Usurper” is their first EP, which was released in 1997 following their debut album “Diabolosis”.

The first thing that you may notice upon listening to Usurper is an obvious Hellhammer influence; the bass is really thick and heavy whilst the guitars have an ugly punk-ish feel to them, thus leading to this comparison. Not to mention the vocals are very reminiscent of Tom G. Warrior at times. However, there is more to Usurper than just another Hellhammer clone!

There is plenty of variety within the 5 songs present here (4 originals and a fantastic rendition of Mercyful Fate’s “Black Funeral”). “Necrocult, Part 1 (The Metal War)” is a pretty straightforward and relentless thrashing beast of a song, “Slavehammer” sounds like a beefed up Hellhammer tune and makes me think of what could have happened if Warrior and co. showed up after the death and black metal movement had already began its momentum, “The Dead of Winter” is a slow and atmospheric song laden with acoustic guitars and a deep level of denseness and the epic 14 minute title track ranges from crushing doom to manic black metal and everything in between.

Running at over 34 minutes, they could have easily gotten away with labeling this as a full length, but; they didn’t, which proves Usurper are not the type of band to do things half arsed. If you’re looking for a good starting point to get into this band, “Threshold…” is the place to look.

Highlights:

Slavehammer

The Dead of Winter

Final Rating: Awesome [8.3/10]

Spear of Longinus – Domni Satnasi [1997]

Spear of Longinus is a band from Brisbane, Australia who classify themselves as “Nazi Occult Metal”. They’ve been sporadically active since 1993, having released 5 studio albums, 2 EP’s, 1 demo and 1 compilation album which consists of their debut demo and first EP. “Domni Satnasi” is their debut album which was released in 1997 surrounded by quite a bit of controversy due the bands lyrics and beliefs. These moral crusaders have no idea what they were missing out on, because “Domni Satnasi” is an absolutely killer old-school black/thrash album, sounding somewhere between Vomitor (who share members and ex-members with S.O.L.) and other Australian acts such as Urgrund and Gospel of the Horns.

Considering the rough as guts sound of the music, you’d be pretty surprised by the clean production on this record, of course it’s not considered “clean” by modern standards and is a bit “thin”, it fits the music perfectly and you can hear every instrument and, in my opinion, is the best production on any Spear of Longinus release.

The songs are generally fast-paced with a few slower and mid-paced sections that pop up at just the right moment and the guitar solos aren’t flashy or used in every song, but when they are, they fit the song well and don’t feel out of place. The drumming isn’t too varied and can get a bit boring at times, but the beats are used well and drive things along just fine. The bass follows the guitar, which again suits the music and it would just not work if he were to go and do his own thing. The vocals are mostly your standard blackened rasp but there’s a bit of range to them and they take on a death metal-ish tone at times.

I don’t really have a favourite track, but it’s pretty cool to hear the original version of “Devil’s Poison”, which was later used as a Vomitor song and album title, it’s also refreshing to hear lyrics about something as simple as stinky pussy among the other songs which focus on war, occultism, philosophy, esoteric themes, religion and National Socialism.

All in all this is a great album worthy of any old-school extreme metal diehards’ collection.

Highlights:
It’s a very consistent album so I’m not going to bother listing highlights. Lister can eat my shit.

Final Rating:
Awesome [8.5/10]

Deströyer 666 – Unchain the Wolves [1997]

‘allo ladies. It’s Vagabond from Witching Metal Webzine. I figured it’s about time I got around to posting something on here, so here’s my first review for Nightmare Reality.



Deströyer 666 is one of the first Australian extreme metal bands I got into, and still one of my all time favourite bands. “Unchain the Wolves” is their debut album which was released in 1997 and featured K.K. Warslut (Corpse Molestation, Bestial Warlust) on vocal and guitar duties, Ballistic Howtizer (Gospel of the Horns) on drums, Ian Shrapnel (Adorior, Razor of Occam) on guitars and Phil Gresik (Bestial Warlust, Hobbs’ Angel of Death, Mass Confusion, Long Voyage Back) on bass. It’s often (and rightly so) considered a classic album by fans.

Stylistically the songs are a mix of early black metal with melodic sensibilities a la Dissection and more straightforward blackened speed metal, definitely influenced by early Bathory. Lyrically, mainman K.K. focuses on subjects such as war, drinking, killing, fucking, blasphemy and nihilism. There’s plenty of variety to be found on “Unchain the Wolves” which can be noticed almost instantly with the huge difference in styles between the opening 10 minute epic “Genesis to Genocide” and the 4 minute thrashing anthem “Australian and Anti-Christ”. Every song on the album has its own flavour, with my favourites being the aforementioned first two tracks, “Satan’s Hammer”, “Tyranny” and the title track.

What else can I say about this album, really? It’s an absolute classic and my favourite Australian metal album. If you’re a fan of extreme metal at all and haven’t heard “Unchain the Wolves”, I suggest you stop what you’re doing right now and track down a copy. Seriously, stop reading this review right now and go buy it.

Highlights:
If you’re not hooked after hearing “Genesis to Genocide” then there’s really nothing I can do for you. But since Lister is a wanker and expects a highlights list, you should go look these up on youtube now:

“Australian and Antichrist”
“Satan’s Hammer”
“Tyranny”
“Unchain the Wolves”


Final Rating:
Legendary [10/10]

Nocturnal Breed - Aggressor [1997]

Nocturnal Breed's "Aggressor" is a monstrously crushing album. Every single time I listen to this release, I'm blown away. Fast, crunchy guitars, throat ripping vocals and black metal keyboards mixed in with an atmosphere of the absolute end of human kind. "Aggressor" is the soundtrack to the Apocalypse. The title suits the album perfectly. Aggressive and savage with the intent to show no mercy. From front to back, this album has you by the balls with an iron grip and never lets go.

This release is definitely one of the first albums to go about the whole thrash metal throwback but they blended it with aggressive black metal to make the perfect sound and atmosphere. Tracks like "Maggot Master" and "Frantic Aggressor" are unrelenting and filled with nothing but filth, speed and blasphemy. I was a bit skeptical when I first read that Sven Kopperud from Dimmu Borgir was a big part in the creation of this album but now, I can easily say that that is behind me because this release is a true masterpiece.

The production on "Aggressor" is raw but it suits the music very well. Blackthrash rarely sounds good with clean, pristine production, in my opinion. It adds that perfect sound to the fast riffs or the slow, black metal synth that shows up quite often on the album. Another fantastic addition to the album is the cover of one of Death's best songs, "Evil Dead". Kenneth Svartalv's vocals on the cover suit the song almost as well as Chuck Shuldiner's did. While not a perfect cover, it's just another cherry on top.

This is one hell of an album and definitely something any fan of the Teutonic thrash bands (Sodom, Kreator, Destruction) or Brazilian thrash bands (Sepultura, Sarcofago) should check out as they draw strong influences from both on this album. Absolute filth, hatred and black thrash is what you'll find here.

Highlights
"Maggot Master"
"Dead Dominions"
"Alcoholic Rites"

Final Rating
Masterpiece [9.6/10]