Dawn of the Apocalypse

I can't disagree with the other guy who reviewed this album, but it's not the best death metal album I've ever heard (that goes to Morbid Angel's Blessed Are the Sick). It's damn near close, and I can't really think of anything that is so perfectly balanced as far as melody and brutality go, and yes, that means that there is far more brutality than melody.

Let's get the bad points out of the way first. The intro, yes, I know it is from the Omen, a classic horror movie, blah, blah, blah...but it sounds fucking stupid! Why would you have that on here when you can have Peter Gilmore from the Church of Satan write an intro like he did on those Acheron albums? This is just stupid...and it sounds ridiculous even more so when put on such a fine album.

And then there's one riff in "Societe des Luciferiens." ONE RIFF. It sounds kind of happy, like a hardcore or punkish riff, and just sounds way out of place. Not bad, because it's under a blast beat, but still...what was Tony thinking?

The song lengths are a rather troublesome matter for Vital Remains. They're long, and while some build quite well, Vital Remains seems to just basically play the song twice as long as it really needs to be. The title track and "Behold the Throne of Chaos" are prime examples, where had you just cut the song in half I could add another 5 to 7 points for the score. Maybe a good producer would help? Less pot?

Now the good...pretty much the rest of the album!

Seriously, this is fucking consistent. Each riff, each breakdown, each guitar solo, sounds like it belongs there.

Best songs? Hard to say, but for me personally it has to be "Black Magic Curse" and "Behold the Throne of Chaos." The chorus on "Black Magic Curse" I find to sound particularily menacing and downright evil, and the wicked guitar solo in the midsection proves that Dave Suzuki can do more than the neo-classical shredding he normally does. And "Behold the Throne of Chaos..." Fuck...what can I say? The blasting on here kicks your face in, each change of riff seeming to become faster and more malevolent, before that breakdown comes in. And goddamn, if that isn't a catchy riff, I don't know what is! I nominate that for one of the five best death metal songs ever, right after "Abominations," "Dead by Dawn," "Leprosy," and "Left Hand Path." It's that fucking good!

"Came No Ray of Light" is a little acoustic ditty, quite beautiful and very appropriate in the middle of all the mayhem. Suzuki also does a nice acoustic solo theme in the title track, which sound apocalyptic to say the least. Vocalist Thorns contributes one track of his own "The Night has a Thousand Eyes," which sounds a bit like old Moonspell. Amazingly, this serves as good variety rather than useless, aimless filler. I wasn't expecting it to provide something enjoyable.

Individual performances: Vocalist Thorn is wild. Not as characteristic as Jeff Gruslin, but fucking insane. There's a lot of screaming and rapid fire delivery on here, alongside some really gutteral parts, which is nice. He thanks cocaine and vodka in the linear notes, and not surprisingly got fired for drug problems later.

Tony puts on a lot of good riffs. Like I said, all of them but that one on "Societe des Luciferiens" kicks ass. His guitar tone on here is particularily brutal, like a shiny diesel 18 wheeler belching smoke and crushing you!

Bass is here...somewhere.

Dave Suzuki's drumming sounds meaner than ever, and he hadn't gone over to triggered drums or incessant blasting yet. His guitar solos are varied as well, which keeps the songs interesting. I've listened to the Benton albums, and those two elements constantly turn me off from them, whereas on here, Suzuki really pays attention to the dynamics of the songs.

So there you have it...Vital Remains best, and some of the best death metal you can possibly ever hear.