Primitive death scratches such a particular itch. Upon first (and second) listen, I didn't get into Massacre. When I approach a new album I often run aground of my expectations: on the one hand are the high hopes based on contextual knowledge, but on the other, what my ears are physically accustomed to at the particular moment that I first hear the record. Perception of production suffers from this more than anything else. Old school death metal, and a lot of older metal in general, often suffers on first listen when juxtaposed against anything with 'modern heavy' production. Subtlety and nuance become more apparent on repeated listens. Unfortunately, much of our formative opinions are based on initial impact. In this case, the guitars sounded fizzy but not particularly punishing. This first misguided listen came immediately following an album I know inside out:
Heartwork by Carcass, which sports a clean but crushing melodeath sound. The antithesis of
From Beyond. Massacre's songwriting felt too simple in comparison, too generic. It wasn't HEAVY enough. Nothing leapt out and ate my face. My metal receptors weren't wired to receive the true thunder.
Skip a few months forward... my head full to the brim of tech-death, blackened jazz prog, epic power metal... an old school blast sounds perfect.
This past week in general I've been poring over old-school DM -- in anticipation of seeing Cannibal Corpse this Thursday, who, I'll admit are not one of my favorites on record (live they kill, this I know). Playing
From Beyond at the tail-end capped off the run nicely. The riffs are straightforward but THEY ARE pummeling, the time signatures and drumming aren't overly complex, but the songs DO deliver. It's all about frame of mind. Its easy to see why vocalist Kam Lee is so revered... I was only familiar with his much-later Denial Fiend material (awesome, as with most anything on Ibex Moon!), but his voice with Massacre is the epitome of death-growl perfection. Its hard to wax descriptive about this particular brand of death metal when both its strength and weakness is its simplicity. If you like this sort of thing and are in the mood for it, it'll scratch that itch, no questions asked.
One thing in particular I love: creepy/cheesy intros, a perfect example appearing on "Chamber of Ages". While not instilling fear or dread in the way Massacre probably intended, I'll defend haunted-house synth-troductions to the end. They contribute immensely to the fun, and impart character simply by existing. When the bulk of an album is atonal, straightforward thrashing, a hint of melodic atmosphere in between songs goes a long way. The nostalgic factor also can kick up the enjoyment factor, while calling to mind the time/place that spawned the material in the first place. Reminds me of an old $30 skateboard of mine, adorned with a horned demon skull and requisite lizard crawling out of the eye socket. Evil by numbers. Fantastic.
My copy includes the
Inhuman Condition EP, which marks a slight change of direction, but is of equal quality. The riffing feels a little cleaner, the songs are slightly longer, and there's a more pronounced lead guitar presence, whereas the bulk of
From Beyond is rhythmic blasting. The Venom cover is fun, and I didn't realize that was actually Cronos singing until I looked it up. Oddly the combination of a traditional pre-death vocal with Rick Rozz's guitar made me think of Obituary. It's well worth the price of admission, along with the entire album as a whole.
