I.N.R.I.

Imagine being a 15 year old kid in 1987, and being used to bands like Metallica, Testament and Anthrax. The closest you've been exposed to extreme metal is Slayer, and you come across a record like INRI. For the year it came out, blast beats at that speed were completely unheard of for the most part.

However it's not the blasts that get me, this record is a collection of catchy and memorable guitar riffs. The mood of the music is energetic in the vein of your classic 80s speed metal band, but brutal like old school death metal. Also you'll notice that it's not just blasts and tremolo picking throughout the entire album. They've mixed in some doomy/ slower riffs like on the intro to Nightmare as well as some much needed thrash beats that can be heard on several songs on the album

One interesting thing about the blast beats, I really admire it and never hear it from any other band. It's when DD crazy randomly slows down in the middle of a blast riff. I originally thought this happened because DD lacked the energy needed to keep a steady blast. The more I observed this, the more I realized that it worked as a suitable fill during blast beats, and a very unique way of going about it might I add! This is one of the most peculiar things about DD Crazy's drumming style. The best example of this can be heard on the main riff for Satanas.

One thing to top off the great song writing, is the vocals. Antichrist's vocal delivery has to be one of the deadliest in metal, you can really tell he puts a lot of effort into them. Also the lows for the time are unheard of and sound rather demonic. Also, you really gotta love the falsetto scream in the middle of The Last Slaughter!

One flaw on this album is the mild sloppiness in the drums, especially during the blast beats. However as they progress as a band, album by album, they really improve on being tighter as a band. However the sloppiness is something I overlook. The musicianship may not be perfect, but the togetherness they have as a band is very prominent.

This album is a timeless classic, and influential to many generations of black & death metal bands to come. Top notch riff writing, chaotic drumming, and shrieking black metal vocals throughout! It's hard to go wrong with this record, especially one that ends in circus music and the sound of someone taking a gnarly dump.

Top tracks: Nightmare, Satanic Lust, Satanas, The Last Slaughter.