Conqueror - War. Cult. Supremacy. [1999]

Your old mate Vagabond has been a bit busy with actual real life recently, so I haven't had much time to contribute to Nightmare Reality. With that being said, I've decided to transfer over some of the reviews I wrote last year for my "Arisen From The Crypt" monthly special which I stopped doing once I started doing old-school reviews on here....

Conqueror formed way back in 1992 and featured J. Read (Blood Revolt, Revenge, Black Witchery, Axis of Advance, Cremation, Kerasphorus, Arkhon Infaustus) on drums and vocals and R. Förster (Blasphemy, Domini Inferi, Revenge, Godless North) on the axe.

They played the most unrelenting war metal ever recorded. Constant blast beats, insane vocals that make your average black metal vocalist sound like Madonna and extremely fast distorted riffs all over the place are what to expect here, although it’s best to go into a release like this with no expectations, because whatever you’re expecting will be wrong.

In all honesty, this is the most savage album I have ever laid ears on. Most people who listen to “War. Cult. Supremacy.” will hear nothing but mush and noise, but the ones who actually “get it” will hear complete, utter primitivism and barbarity. This release is an audio war against humanity. No one is safe.

I have no other words for this. Get your hands on this any way you can and prepare to have your perspective on “music” changed forever.

Highlights: 
The whole thing.

Final Rating: Legendary [10/10]

Blasphemy – Fallen Angel of Doom… [1990]

Blasphemy is one of Canada’s most legendary bands, and one of the most influential and important black/death metal bands of all time. Formed in 1984, the band have unfortunately only ever put out four releases; their first demo “Blood Upon the Alter”, their debut full length “Fallen Angel of Doom…”, sophomore album “Gods of War” and a live album, each one a cut above the rest in terms of barbaric savagery. Right now, I’m going to ramble on about their amazing debut album…

Before going on, I will issue a warning: If you can’t handle raw and primitive black metal fueled by a healthy dose of death metal, extreme power and pure hatred, stop reading now. “FAOD” is by far one of the most primitive and extreme sounding records of all time, and it’s not for the faint of heart. To a lot of listeners, this album WILL sound like mush, due to the low-budget production job, but after spending some time with it you’ll begin to notice little details such as the bass heavy guitar tone, the pounding drum work, some of the sickest and most hateful vocals ever and the killer solos spread between some really interesting yet still primitive as fuck riffs. These songs are clearly the product of an eerie obsession with Sarcófago’s “I.N.R.I.”, the first Possessed album, mid-80’s Sodom and early Bathory. 

It’s impossible to deny the influence of such a great record. Songs like the title track, “Desecration”, the often covered “Ritual”, “Demoniac” and “Goddess of Perversity” really speak for themselves and there’s not much more to be said about “Fallen Angel of Doom…” except that it really is a must hear for a serious underground black or death metal fan and quite possibly the greatest extreme metal album of all time.

Highlights:
Ritual
Demoniac
Goddess of Perversity

Final Rating:
Legenadary 10.0/10

Deranged - Place of Torment (Demo) [1989]

This demo is easily one of the most vicious demos to come from Canada. Deranged were a thrash metal band from British Columbia that formed in 1987. They played an extreme hybrid of thrash metal with a bit of early death metal thrown in (mostly in the vocals and drumming). They released two demos ("Premonitory Nightmare" and "Place of Torment") before changing their name to Debt of Nature and releasing one more demo before disbanding in 1993. I myself am extremely dissappointed with the fact that they never went anywhere in the thrash metal scene even though "Place of Torment" is something beautiful. It's fast, vicious and sounds pretty much like Morbid Saint does. What a shame.

The music on the album is extremely savage and the guitars sound like they could literally rip through your chest like a chainsaw. The bass is hardly audible as the production is only as good as one could get for a demo recording in 1989. The drums are very standard with lots of use of your average thrash metal drum beats and there's a lot of use of doubles and triplets with the bass pedals. However, that doesn't take away from the music as it actually works extremely well with the ripping guitars and the very harsh vocals. I really like the vocals on this demo a lot because they make me think of bands like Demolition Hammer and Morbid Saint.

"Place of Torment" is definitely primitive and raw but it is definitely something that should be checked out. Extremely hidden gem. It's really too bad I can't buy this on vinyl anywhere though. So spread the word and show this fucking raw piece of art to your friends. Hopefully, they won't be disappointed. If you love bands like the two mentioned earlier (Demolition Hammer and Morbid Saint) or you just in general love yourself some savage thrash metal, this demo's for you.

Highlights

"Eminence of Terror"

"Coercion"

"The Burning"

Final Rating

Awesome [8.2/10]