#142 Overkill - Feel the Fire

Overkill are, beyond all reasonable doubt, the veteran thrash band of veteran thrash bands - Forming back in the mists of 1980, and making albums with little interruption ever since. Feel the Fire is the bands debut full-length, and was released in 1985, which, aside from meaning that it has the "classic-thrash" seal of approval as standard, also means that it's a relatively late start, when combined with the bands formation, makes it something of a late starter. Arguably, good things are worth waiting for.

There are a couple of thrash albums which possess a certain feel - that of a band who were making such an album before anyone could quite agree on what thrash was. Most such albums are a little bit older than this one - Show no Mercy and Kill Em' All being prime examples. I'm tempted to say that Feel the Fire may well be one of the last thrash albums to have this style without it being a case of emulation. Enough about me describing it - I'd best elaborate. The "primitive" feel of the album is very pleasing, giving it a rough, vintage charm which pure, straight forward thrash albums don't always have. Overkill have, as far as I can tell, always been quite melodic as thrash bands go, and it's particularly apparent on this album, and the "not-quite-thrash-but-definitely-more-than-just-speed-metal" feel makes for a catchy and somewhat manic listen. Foreshadowing just about every album the band would make, Bobby Blitz' vocals are utterly thrash, and I'll argue quite openly that he has one of the best voices in thrash as a whole, with his quirky vocals and often extremely hook-laden lyrics making the songs memorable and above all quite fun. In Feel the Fire the vocals seem a little more sung than they would be later, which reinforces further the albums proto-thrash feel.

The drums are a bit off-time sometimes, and the production is a little bit minimal, but I didn't find either of these things to be  bothering me unduly. It just seems to fit.  The whole album has a bit of a rag-tag, "made-in-a-shed" production theme going on, which I feel is an aesthetic which thrash bands today really need to foster once again. The playing is far from seamless, but that itself has a raw appeal. Aside from the drums clattering a bit, it's a pretty tasty, if slightly rough production job. The signature overkill tone is already present in the guitars, even at this relatively early stage, and despite being a little different from quintessential Overkill, this album certainly showcases most of what the band would do for years to come, and do well at that. It may be a taste of what was, at the time, not quite fully ripened yet, but it's still a great listen and a true thrash essential.

 Debuts can say a lot about a band. Cliched as it may sound, Feel the Fire is no exception to this. The unique and thoroughly enjoyable Overkill aesthetic is immediately and utterly apparent. It's difficult to convey what the music tells me but this album... It's Overkill, no doubt about that.

This is a 9/10. I need to be more mean. Perhaps if I didn't review stuff I already bloody like most of the time...

Links:
Overkill Official site
Overkill on Myspace
Overkill on Facebook
Overkill on Metal Archives

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#141 Percht - The Aftermath of a Velvet Season

Something undeniably a little more on the obscure side now, Percht is a band I ran into on the Metal Archives forum a day or two ago. I've not listened to as much non-standard black metal as I should have over the years, and quite a portion of the epic/ambient/post/generally fancy subgenres are something of a mystery to me. Probably to my detriment, I'm not one to let a complete lack of knowledge about something get in the way of me reviewing it.

As is often my persuasion, I'll convert my impression of the band into a tactile one. This band is definitely silky, velvety, and the album is altogether befitting of it's title; "The Aftermath of a Velvet Season". The music is melancholic and yet also euphoric, with a mixture of sadness and joy which is rather unfathomable but thoroughly fabulous to listen to. The tremolos which make up a lot of the guitar work on the album dance very elegantly, with non-sinister scales and epic, warm, and golden-sunlit vibes being given off. The tremolos benefit from a "two-level" sound which the music seems to hold - The bass, or at least, the lower elements are very audible in the mix, and really adds depth to the music - especially in the clean-vocal sections, of which most songs have at least a couple - It's like hearing a whole different dimension of sound, and I don't exaggerate in saying that it's extensively pleasing to the ear. I've not listened to a great deal of black metal in this atmospheric style, and I don't know if I'd trust my own judgement in saying that this sounds unique if the general consensus didn't seem to agree with such a statement.

The major strong point of  strong points for this album, and indeed all of the songs which the project creates, are the murmuring, beautiful clean-vocal sections. With a singing voice which sounds like something between Quorthon and the soft vocals of Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved, in many places, consequently, there is a touch of the Viking about the music. It's certainly got a mountainous epic feel to it, but at the same time, the music manages to conjure a soft, multi-dimensional pocket of sound which is contrastingly intense and lullaby-like. I've never been entirely sure how uniqueness ties in with music simply sounding good, and I expect it would take someone much wiser to think about that, so I'm unsure if the uniqueness of the music is related in any way to the fact that it's excellent. Perhaps Ferre, the man behind the project is simply good at what he does, and what he does happens also to be refreshingly original in a good number of ways as well. Whatever is is, I enjoyed every single track on the album. I tend to enjoy bands which combine a bit of everything, and if you listen youself, I'm sure it's easy enough to pick up on the fact that this band is one of those.

I'm very pleased to have happened upon this music, and a definite thanks to the metal archives user "Stormm", who made the thread about Percht, thus helping me discover some damn fine music. I'm delighted at what I'm listening to. It ticks so many boxes - Percht make beauty the way I like it; Shimmering, echoing and above all un-cliched.

A definite and well-deserved 9/10.

Links:
Percht on Myspace
Percht on Facebook
Percht on Metal Archives