It
surprises me how many people "in the know" who still are oblivious to
this fantastic record. This following statement might taint my otherwise
stainless credibility, but I think there's quite a lot of so called "Thrash
Classics" that are more than a little overrated. I don't really dare to
mention any titles (I fear the vengeful wrath of many a POSSESSED or DARK
ANGEL fan. Oops!.), but let's just say that everything "old" and "first-wave"
isn't necessarily a work of genius. Dunno if "Metal Deadness" is an all-out
piece of genius material either, but it's close. Damn close! And that
goes for both bands on this beautiful split-LP. It's usually very easy
to pick a favorite on these split affairs, one band often being the talented
bunch, the other the "nice blokes" who "deserves a shot". (although they
rarely do. A shot in the wrist maybe, to keep 'em out of arms length from
any sort of musical instrument for the rest of their useless lives, but
I digress...) In this case it's bloody impossible since both bands RRRAAWK!
.or something of that sort, whatever you do when you play raw Euro-Thrash
exceptionally well. SECOND HELL is the most brutal bunch of the 2, and
are about as close to Death Metal as you'd get on vinyl this year. They
make a rather sophisticated but totally destructive performance with plenty
of similarities to such classics as "Pleasure To Kill", "7 Churches" and
the
NECRONOMICON
debut LP. From the ultra-fast "Prophets Of Hell" to the all-out
mayhem of "Assignment To Kill" you get 5 superb, aggressive,
deathlike songs of which the intricate "Homicide" is a favorite 5 minutes
of superb Deathrashing riffs and rhythms. Nothing even resembling a bad
song on this side as a whole. Or the SKULL CRUSHER-flip for that matter!
SC is evil Euro-speed in the same style and league as early RUNNING WILD,
WARRANT and
FUTURE TENSE,
e.i. fangfaced, chainsaw-wielding METAL-riffing and evilangry vocals spewing
forth some luwly juvenile satanic rantings. "Descend.." crisscross
from class-A Speed to this truly demented doomy chorus, catchier than
a very catchy thing from hell out to catch you. "Hallelujah"
are boosted with spinechilling eerie M.FATEish riffing and cruel DESTRUCTIONlike
speed guitars. The lead-riff to "No Boundary.." is just the
essence of 80's European Black Heavy Metal and an extremely catchy song
that you'd have to be a complete wimp not to love. Finally there's "Massacre"
which just keeps blowing your mind with one monster riff after another
- an epic from the fiery pits of Hades!
This will always be one of my all-time underground Metal favorites and
I cannot recommend it enough. It's actually one of the albums that steered
me onto the path of more "serious" Metal-collecting. The incredible
Wim Baelus cover art alone - probably my all-time favorite - makes this
a must-buy item, but you better hurry since more and more Thrash &
Death-metal fans seem to discover this "lost treasure" and it's
becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of. Not that it ever was an
easy piece to begin with...
note: Some old HELLOWEEN-member had a history in a band called SECOND
HELL I've been told. I don't have a clue if there's any connection, but
perhaps some die-hard HELLOWEEN-fan can enlighten me?