Creepy UK sound

Recommendations, discussions, questions & debates regarding the godly Metal of olde...
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Destrozer
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Creepy UK sound

Post by Destrozer »

I guess Dan will agree on this one...
Have you noticed how fucked and weird many old bands from the UK were? I mean, listen to Hell, Deliverance, Sabbat demos, Tead Heath/Xyster, old Bolt Thrower, Sacrilege.... All those bands had such a creepy sound. Care to discuss?
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ION BRITTON
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Post by ION BRITTON »

Seems that the root of all evil is located somewhere in the Island. Black Sabbath was the Black Metal of the 70's. Then Hell, Sabbat, Deliverance, Widow, Pagan Altar...There are really countless bands with that evil dark sound. I MUST mention also one of my all-time favourite bands of all genres: the monstrous AMEBIX- the hardest and darkest shit you'll ever hear. I think that The Baron aka Rob Miller must be one of my favourite bass players ever (if not my absolute favourite): the man simply created Chaos out of this rather boring instrument!

I don't know, it must be the fuckin' climate that influences the character and the mood of the people there! I really can't explain it!
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Post by Fucking Åmål »

I suppose it is the foggy climate in UK and that it is always raining.As for engelsmän character i think is the coldness.
BestialLust
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Post by BestialLust »

I'm shocked that Deliverance's 'Evil Friendship' gets very little attention on the internet, especially considering the amount of hype that exists for anything 'Black' released in the 80s.
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DaN
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Post by DaN »

I'm shocked that Deliverance's 'Evil Friendship' gets very little attention on the internet, especially considering the amount of hype that exists for anything 'Black' released in the 80s.
My thoughts exactly! This album is the perfect mix of DEATH SS and early ROOT. 'Kvlt' Black Metal maniacs should be all over this one.

Concerning special Metal sounds from special countries, that has always been an area of great fascination for me - why certain countries and areas develop these original, unmistakeable styles. Italy, the Czech Rep. and Russia are other countries that seem to breed very unique sounds.

But why the UK? Had to sleep on this one. I'd say it's an unsavoury combination of Thatcherism/social squalor, shitty weather, ugly women (no use for love songs here), awful food and a pinch of Monty Python. I guess the old UK punk scene are somewhat responsible for that TED HEATH/XYSTER/SACRILEGE/AMEBIX/BOLT THROWER-sound too.

And people drink warm beer over there, fuckers :P

And someone should have mentioned DEEP SWITCH by now.
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Post by Fucking Åmål »

And people drink warm beer over there, fuckers :P

.
Yes but Sweden And Norway drink low alcohol Beer 3,5 or 3% i don't think that is a beer.
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DaN
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Post by DaN »

...which forces us to drink a whole fucking lot of it, keeping us fat & healthy :D
BestialLust
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Post by BestialLust »

DaN wrote:
I'm shocked that Deliverance's 'Evil Friendship' gets very little attention on the internet, especially considering the amount of hype that exists for anything 'Black' released in the 80s.
My thoughts exactly! This album is the perfect mix of DEATH SS and early ROOT. 'Kvlt' Black Metal maniacs should be all over this one.
Heh, I think it does sound like a sped-up Death SS, but presumed no one would agree with that.
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ION BRITTON
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Post by ION BRITTON »

BestialLust wrote:
DaN wrote:
I'm shocked that Deliverance's 'Evil Friendship' gets very little attention on the internet, especially considering the amount of hype that exists for anything 'Black' released in the 80s.
My thoughts exactly! This album is the perfect mix of DEATH SS and early ROOT. 'Kvlt' Black Metal maniacs should be all over this one.
Heh, I think it does sound like a sped-up Death SS, but presumed no one would agree with that.
Death SSs' sound was based basically on horror, was way more theatrical and -why not- gothic, kinda like a modern heavier verison of Alice Cooper, Black Widow and Black Sabbath. I think that Deliverance's purpose was not so much to shock but rather to create an evil, satanic and perhaps "sinful" atmosphere. Especially on the godly Evil Friendship i personally notice a hideous blending of various music styles such as thrash, classic heavy (like on the superb Turn me to stone, where they sound like a more evil version of Sabbath at Headless cross era), some sick industrialized moments (listen to Rabid) and even some new age influences on some guitar soloing especially on the last songs of the album. Add some macabre vocal effects and some chilling, spine-creaking intros and you get the picture. Both bands were really great (and i emphasize on "were", as Death SSs' last albums were garbage) and maybe they tried to achieve the same thing but eventually they did it each one with its own way. In conclusion, IMO there is no obvious and striking resemblance between the two bands.
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Post by DaN »

Great synopsis on "Evil Friendship" there. No, the resemblance is hardly intentional, but Death SS fans would surely benefit from checking out DELIVERANCE. The similarities are mostly noticable on the slower songs.

One thing about the DEATH SS sound that I enjoy, but few seem to recognize is the great, straight-forward hardrocking, almost TWISTED SISTER-like bits. No such vibes in DELIVERANCE though. When listening to these morbit brit's you almost get the impression that these guys didn't listen much to other Metal, but rather made up their own version of the genre. All in all they were a truly unique band. Pity those demos on the "best of" CD was such a disappointment :(
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Post by Fucking Åmål »

A and the english girls are to me so beautiful especially the blond ones
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ancient tyranny
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Post by ancient tyranny »

BestialLust wrote:I'm shocked that Deliverance's 'Evil Friendship' gets very little attention on the internet, especially considering the amount of hype that exists for anything 'Black' released in the 80s.
After reading about that LP here, I have the chance to pick that up on ebay for an decent price and it´s really an great record, so how are their other LPs compared to "Evil Friendship"?
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Post by DaN »

Here's an old review on "Devil's Meat" I made for my old site DUMST:
DELIVERANCE (UK) - "devil's meat" LP 87 (Metalworks)
Although the main reason this album qualify as a Metalploitation album is the sound, I gotta start off by telling U about the cover. I don't usually hang record covers on my wall coz they tend to get skewed, but I made an exception with this one. It's really outrageous, no fancy graphics, not even a band logo, just a photo of a young girl age 7-10 on a white background, wearing a red piece of cloth, an old metal necklace, dead stare, blood trail from the mouth and the title "devil's meat" written in blood on her forehead. As genious as it is simple. And the music? MY GOD! Who are these people?!!? It's like a bunch of ol' geezers heard of "this new hep thang cal' Dev'l Met'l" and tried to do it on their own without even one hint of how to produce a metal record, it's like CELTIC FROST played by inbred rednecks brought up on crap-NWOBHM like RAVEN and DIAMOND HEAD, it's BRILLIANT!!!. Unintentional originality - don't U just love it?
The last album, "Book Of Lies" is more similar to "Evil Friendship" but without the brutal parts. At best it reminds you of King Diamond. It's a good one, but quite uneven songwise.
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Post by Plantweed »

ION BRITTON wrote: I MUST mention also one of my all-time favourite bands of all genres: the monstrous AMEBIX- the hardest and darkest shit you'll ever hear.
I second this. Been rockin' their demos. Really dark, nihilistic crust metal.
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bigfootkit
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Post by bigfootkit »

I really think you are all reading waaay too much into "the sound", it's much more likely that it comes about as a result of the bands having zero budget or experience in recording studios.
I believe that a lot of it also comes from producers at the time not knowing how to record music of this type, guys who were doing pop one day, punk the next, new wave, ska etc, just struggling to capture the sound of a hastily recorded Metal band playing loudly on cheap equipment.
I'm not trying to denigrate the appeal of the music in any way, i think it's great that so many people in so many places love this old stuff, but i'm convinced that it has more to do with happy accidents in the recording process than anything deeper.
It's funny to me that the love of this music leads many people to have romantic notions of our weird litttle island.
Seriously, it's no more "foggy" here than anywhere else in Europe except maybe on places on the coast, London's famous "pea-souper" fog was actually smog, which was done away with by the hastily passed Clean Air Bill in the 1950's (i think), after the poor air quality killed many people over one terrible weekend.
Yes it's wet and cold in the winter, but it's also hot and sunny most summers, although there is a North/South divide weather wise.
If there was any outside contributing factor which played a part in the sound, DaN's probably right to cite the socio/political background of the times, with Thatcher in power, blackouts, strikes, riots etc., it was a time of austerity and deprivation which affected most of the country and one which the North is still recovering from.
The atmosphere of the time was so bleak, it's no wonder that the bands which were around put so much angst into their craft, these were genuinely hard times, money was hard to come by and the future looked bleak.
Hmm, much like things are going now actually. :?
Ah, well, we may at least get a good soundtrack out of the dark days ahead.
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