The Torment

Mastermind Ian Arley is an English man who has been able to create 3 different bands which have gone dead with 2 releases each under the belt but he has been so creative that both releases from each band have managed to become rarities and have gone really expensive for purchasing them. With this in mind I can tell you that both the Torment and Lament for the Weary are extraordinary albums with kick ass voice, riffing, solos, drumming, bass sound and lyrical content, thus, we get crushing metal pleasure.


The keyboard opens from silence and slowly increases the volume in Tormented Forever as suddenly you get killing riffing and a perfect opener to kick your guts out. The chorus is very simple and the lyrics are focused on some Bible passages from the book of Revelation chapter 9th. Arkley’s voice can be described as a tormented and more slashing Mustaine with a deep darker feeling. The Charmer follows and it builds upon itself with a calm but dark and creepy narration to leave you with the impression that you are in the very wastelands after the destruction of the Earth. The guitar passage opens with some chords, the bass enters and then you get speed metal killer riffing. There is a middle part guitar driven where again the singing with some almost growls keep you interested in a song that clocks at almost 8 minutes. A lot of solos come up and then the song reaches the climax with slow parts and cool chords perfectly combining the leave-you-thinking atmosphere that surrounds the song.


Forbidden Desires is the most killer song in the album. It has a relentless drumming pattern and you just get astonished by its fury. The riffing part is very thrashy, very much in the vein of Sodom’s ‘Sergeant Orange’ combining speed tempo parts with more technical and mid tempo parts.


I of the Needle, Expletive Deleted (not the fastest but indeed the heaviest and darkest track), Dr. Hatchet and Locked up in Chains deal with a lot of themes, but especially remarkable are abortion in DH and the life of Pablo the Apostle when he was prisoner. The ways the songs are structured and penned give you impression of a very dark, depressive, gloomy, and lonely environment and people trying to survive in a world of darkness. These are indeed killer songs, some even faster, some more aggressive but the albums reaches the climax once you get to Katie.


Katie closes the album right before the Epilogue and it is an epic song clocking at 10min. with some amazing guitar riffs, acoustic interludes introducing the vocal parts in the beginning and at minute 6:30. Mid tempo exquisite verses and choruses where again we get relentless guitar parts very much in the vein of Sodom again. There are solos interludes masterfully performed in a way that the song impresses you with its weeping emotion. It ends with slow tempo and Arkley almost crying in agony representing the girl’s voice. This song is the perfect closer to an album but oh no… we get the real closer: The Epilogue is an acoustic song of 1:50min. and it has only one verse and its emotion lies in the clean vocal part and the flute.


This is by all means almost a perfect album because it has all the elements from thrash that you can expect and that will leave you wishing for more and most likely because the follow the same vein as countrymen Xentrix and some techniques from Sodom, Violence and Tankard but… it is not perfect because except for the structure in putting the songs because after the 3 first songs the other ones don’t top those 3 so you get a little bored until you get Katie, that is the only reason why this didn’t get the 100 but it is indeed…almost flawless.