“…eyes that say so many words but the lips are closed…”
You’ll throw this on and think it rumbles along like equally mirthless Necrovore that’s traded some wayward rpms for a few thimbles of vague flexibility. Then you realize you’re playing it on 33 like a jerk off. Anyway, on the right speed this ep with the fits-like-a-wetsuit title is an antipode to ‘fun’ thrash, six songs of Eastern Bloc damnation wrecking havoc with a demolition ball smeared in the rotten-toothed majesty of elemental death metal. Influences? Tell me you’re retarded and I’ll forgive you. It’s ’87 in the fatherland and the ocean of inspiration black and salty swirls with an eddy as big as Mustaine’s ego (no, there isn't any Megadeth influence here). Throw in some Canadian Slaughter velocity, tape-traded Morbid Angel and Des Exult, a little Possessed, a few of the more brazen Brazilian imports, and don’t forget these guys http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=6728.
Mystery does not cloud Misanthropy; it’s as point blank and undisguised as the last bad guy in a horror flick. These songs sting with more downright death metal ambition than, say, those of countrymates Exumer or Necronomicon, but can be heard flying parallel to Sodom’s Obsessed by Cruelty. Any kind of jovial banter or buffoonery…y’know, the kind nowhere near “Mercenary”, “Holy Inquisition” or “Holocaust”…lie strapped to Iron Angel/debut-era Onslaught torture devices.
While much of the velocity is mostly do-or-die in attitude, the foursome show some stiff-armed flexibility, blocky rest areas where dirge-like melody sneers under the cowls of “Kain and Abel” and “Agoraphobia”. Consequentially, Helloween have nothing to worry about in this respect.
Despite their slow n’ going discovery of more artistic finesse on future releases, radar still tends to ignore these guys even after six or so original releases and a few collections, much like a lot of Brazilian efforts at the time. Are there jungles in Germany to lose your way in?