The Heralds of Oblivion Vol. 1

It took thirty years, but 1993’s The Heralds of Oblivion Vol. 1 has finally grown on me, having bought it decades ago from Columbia House mail-order for a penny. It’s notable as the only release on Los Angeles indie label Roughage Records before their 1994 rebranding as Dwell Records, which released early albums by Soilent Green, Inner Thought, et al. before becoming a compilation-only purveyor. This comp spotlights five L.A.-area death-metal bands with three songs each from Demolition, Catalepsy, Brainstorm, Decomposed, and Mutilage. Except for Demolition, the other bands never got out of the demo stage after this record, and only Demolition and Brainstorm released new material after this. All five bands broke up, but only Demolition reunited decades later and recorded new material.

The album opens like gangbusters with L.A.’s Demolition. A long intro “Prolegomenon” prefaces the excellent “Matanza,” old-school death metal with frenetic thrash elements. Vocalist/guitarist Paul “Tito” Gonzales tempers his growls like Eaten Back to Life-era Chris Barnes, then lets out calculated shrieks like a cross between Tom Araya and John Tardy. Drummer Marce “Mars” Castro (later of Coffin Texts) keeps “The Catapult” ultra-tight as guitarist Allen Muñoz invokes early Death. Demolition had much promise, as they had previously been featured on 1991’s Los Angeles Death Coalition split with Fear Factory, Resistant Culture, and F.C.D.N. Tormentor.

“‘Catalepsy’ is an apprehension in which we expose through our music the atrocities of this horrid reality which some consider life” reads the CD booklet for L.A.’s Catalepsy, an all-African American & Latino band. “Compulsive Beastiality [sic],” “Lust for Carnage,” and “Abrupt Gestation” sound like early Cannibal Corpse with tinny drums, but vocalist David Jones’ “gutteral [sic] noises” tempers his growls like Brutality’s Jeff Acres. Catalepsy later changed their name to Hateseed and entered the rap-metal scene to no avail.

After a lengthy horror movie sample, L.A.’s Brainstorm enters the fray with a frantic, Desultory-esque pacing of “Born to Kill” and “Domestic Violence.” Guitarists Mario Gutierrez (R.I.P. 2007) and Adrian Villanueva sport very fluid, groovy bridges, and vocalist/bassist Joshua Heatley (R.I.P. 1998) throws a change-up in “Strain of Your Life” and more closely resembles Chuck Schuldiner. Drummer Emilio Marquez went on to play with Asesino, Coffin Texts, Hirax, and Possessed, among others.

L.A.’s Decomposed added more doom to their death mix, somewhat like Incantation or Grave. “Eaten By Acid” and “Ratas Humanas” grind along like old Entombed, with vocalist/guitarist Rafael Tapia approaching Immolation’s Ross Dolan. Drummer Angel Elías truly shines on “Angeles Diabolicos” with Herculean fills and polyrhythms; he later played with the all-Spanish-lyrics deathmongers Pro-Fé-Cia.

Malibu’s Mutilage sounds like a primitive Deicide, with vocalist/guitarist Chris Williams (R.I.P. 2001) aping his best Glen Benton with alternating fast/slow delivery. “Vomulence,” “Poisonous [Labyrinth, from the CD booklet],” and “Illusions” do offer a latent Morbid Angel brutality. Drummer Joe Walker is a formidable rhythmist, though it sounds like he’s beating paper heads. Guitarist Pete Traux went on to play with Eyes of Fire and folk/death band Helsótt.

The Heralds of Oblivion Vol. 1 has a lot to love, and who knows what Vol. 2 would’ve sounded like. With Bolt Thrower-esque battlefield cover art, this comp reflects a simpler age of death metal when local bands like these opened shows for bigger touring groups. We can forgive the muddy production, of course, since these tracks were recorded on the cheap in 1992. With the resurgence of demo compilations for the aging metal hordes, this CD is worth the purchase, even though the Discogs shipping will be more expensive than the CD.

- a version of this article was originally published on Manchild’s Musical Maelstrom (More Than Just Metal) page on Facebook