This album has the best intro ever. "I GIVE BLOOD!!!"

Purchased this around 1994 because Doom/Death was still quite new and rare and a review in a German magazine claimed this album was great.

Well, it's not.

The TERRIBBLE voice and the jazz parts spoil everything that might be listenanble on this record.
I don't want to hurt any feelings of fans or band members but this is one of the worst albums I ever heard.
It sucks so damn heard that I am trading the original CD (first pressing) free of any charge. I seriously want to get rid of this crap.

Rated 2/10 because between the songs, you have some seconds of silence coming in as an enjoyable (but far too short) relief.

Written by Starvynth on 30.11.2018 at 15:01

The TERRIBBLE voice and the jazz parts spoil everything that might be listenanble on this record.
I don't want to hurt any feelings of fans or band members but this is one of the worst albums I ever heard.
It sucks so damn heard that I am trading the original CD (first pressing) free of any charge. I seriously want to get ridd of this crap.

This is a harsh comment -- by a generally pretty tolerant fellow.
This album is clearly inferior to their debut but I would say it is by no means a bad album.
Come on, the vocals are not that bad.
And the song writing is over a large part actually pretty enjoyable I think.
The album does feel a tad too long, though, for my taste.
Again, as with the debut, I claim we definitely need any sort of progressive (or technical) tag here.
Reminds of Nocturnus AD and Cynic at times.

Written by Redel on 01.09.2020 at 00:20


This is a harsh comment -- by a generally pretty tolerant fellow.
This album is clearly inferior to their debut but I would say it is by no means a bad album.
Come on, the vocals are not that bad.
And the song writing is over a large part actually pretty enjoyable I think.
The album does feel a tad too long, though, for my taste.
Again, as with the debut, I claim we definitely need any sort of progressive (or technical) tag here.
Reminds of Nocturnus AD and Cynic at times.

Nah, I'm definitely not tolerant enough to stomach these vocals.
At times, he literally sounds completely hammered and I really abhor his overplayed and far too theatralic voice and the subtle but omnipresent German accent. But it's not just the distracting sound of his voice, it's also his modest singing performance from a technical point of view. There's hardly any sense of rhythm and melody and he has serious difficulties striking the right note, let alone staying in key. I wonder how much of this is intentional.

On the other hand you're right - it's not all bad.
Vocally, he tries a lot of different things and sometimes, whether by accident or chance, it sounds just fine. The songwriting isn't as bad as I remembered either, it's actually getting pretty interesting around the two-minute mark of "Brotherhood Sleep" and I even found an thoroughly enjoyable track: the (almost) instrumental "Pandemonium".
Yeah, I've just listened to the album again - for the first time in over 25 years - and I have to admit that my initial rating was far too low. I certainly won't ever call this a masterpiece or something, I still despise 90% of the vocal performance and I can still feel the great disappointment of having spent far too much money on this (the CD still carries the original price label from 1993: 37.99 Deutschmark = a shitload of money), but that's about it. From my personal point of view, "not good" is the most appropriate rating I can think of.

Well, whatever... But what was the question again?

Progressive?


Yes, progressive it is.

Written by Starvynth on 02.09.2020 at 02:21

37.99 Deutschmark

Wow, indeed quite some money (equals some 19 euros), especially considering the time.
A somewhat strange price I find.
I remember a common price for a brand new CD at my local music store in the mid nineties was 32.95 Deutschmark if I recall correctly.
Now, import CDs were more expensive, of course. But the one at hand wouldnt really qualify as such, would it?