Possessed formed in 1982 and this was their first real album release and what a cracker it was too! This one was released late 1985 and is betweeen this and Deaths debut record “Scream Bloody Gore” you’ve got what most people think is the birth of death metal. I’d tend to agree with that but I would also say early Hellhammer and Sodom releases contributed significantly with their debut albums. To be fair, one of the earlier Possessed demo tapes was actually called “Death Metal”. So really they coined the term before anyone anyway.
The album starts off with an intro loop that I’m pretty sure is taken from a horror movie, and lord knows I’ll probably not be able to sleep tonight thinking of where it came from. Once the metal starts properly we have what I’d say would have been the fastest guitar riffs ever committed to a tape up until that point. I’d definitely say it was faster (riffage wise) than either the “Ride the Lightning” or “Hell Awaits” recordings but was infinitely more listenable than say Sodom or Bathory’s early releases at the time.
Lyrically the content followed on from Slayer’s lead with overtly satanic themes and and a similar dark tone throughout the album. I often wonder if bands like Slayer or Metallica had heard this and had to up their games in terms of playing fast after hearing this one come out. This was basically a thrash metal adrenaline rush. I could see this alienating a few people as listening to it still feels like getting pummelled for 45 mins but thats probably what they were going for!
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