Review: The Best Old-School Christian Death Metal Compilation You’ve Never Heard
Once in a while, you stumble across one of those rare little gems that you wish you had known about a long time ago. That gem is an amazing compilation of early Christian death metal entitled A.R.T. Records Singles Series Vol. 2. And if you’re as much of a fan of OSDM as I am, then you absolutely need this record (luckily, it’s still available from the headbangers at Thrashback Records!).
Seven bands, some obscure and some a little more known, all make their appearance on here, with various singles by each band laid out in a versus-like fashion with another band; in effect, the idea is to pit Florida versus New York style death metal, that kind of thing.
First up to go head-to-head are Royal Anguish and The Risen. Better known as a gothic metal outfit these days, Royal Anguish initially began as a far different beast. We get two tracks here – “Retrospect” and “Shocking the Priest.” Unlike their later material, there’s zero goth on either of these two tracks, with the sound being far closer to the style of Morbid Sacrifice. With The Risen you’d be forgiven for checking what year this was released, as the riffs from the get-go on “Mortal Decay” are pure slam riffs; think a mix of Internal Bleeding and Suffocation. Brutal is definitely the operative word – and this track is from 1993, predating Crimson Thorn’s Unearthed and Living Sacrifice’s Inhabit, making this band the first brutal Christian death metal band.
The Winner: Tough call, but I think The Risen have the edge here just for the sheer brutality.
Paired up next are Oblation and Deracination. Oblation are definitely of the Obituary-school, slowing things down to a sickly groove laced with atmospheric guitar solos. Deracination speeds things up tremendously with “Death by Fire,” a mix of Slayer (those riffs reek of the bridge in “Angel of Death”), Metanoia and Harmony Corruption-era Napalm Death.
The Winner: Definitely Oblation – these guys were amazing.
Next to go toe-to-toe are Faithful Witness and Mansoul. Again, we’ve got two very different styles on offer here. Faithful Witness definitely bring the Suffocation and Immolation vibes here with “Shadows” and “Trembling of Spirit,” both a mix of punishing groove and punchy drumming that comes off like a mix of Disencumbrance and Secretion (again, giving them a fair shake at the “first Christian brutal death metal band” title), but with a bit of Pantera groove thrown in. Mansoul, on the other hand, sound go for a far more 80’s death metal vibe on here (think death/thrash a bit) – shrieked vocals, overt thrash influences, and an awesome bit of chant near the beginning. This is really old-school stuff, like early Death, Necrophagia and Possessed.
The Winner: The edge goes to Faithful Witness, as much as I dig the thrashy abandon of Mansoul.
Breaking with the head-to-head theme at the end of the record, we have two tracks from Final Prophecy. Of all the bands on this compilation, Final Prophecy is probably my least favourite (though this doesn’t mean that they’re bad in the least – this whole record is a banger). They go for a more death/thrash vibe on this one reminiscent of bands like Kreator, Incubus (Opprobrium) and the like.
One thing I absolutely love about this compilation is how much work went into it. This is obviously a product of those who, like me, love to mine the underground for hidden gems and polish them up for a showcase when found. Mastered by Rob Colwell of Bombworks Sound and given awesome cover art by Sidjimbe Art Studios in Singapore, the compilation comes complete with liner notes and rare old photos of the bands themselves. For nerds like me, it’s a total treat. It’s kind of nuts to think that this kind of high-quality death metal carnage will probably go unheard by many metalheads simply because of the Christian beliefs attached to these bands, but that’s pretty much par for the course. If you don’t own this compilation, I highly recommend grabbing one – this is fantastic.
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