{"id":15462,"date":"2025-08-14T20:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T00:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?p=15462"},"modified":"2025-08-14T20:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T00:44:09","slug":"review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sacrament &#8211; Testimony of Apocalypse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>From the Vault Review &#8211; Sacrament &#8211;&nbsp;<em>Testimony of Apocalypse<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ah, Sacrament. That&nbsp;<em>other<\/em>&nbsp;nasty Christian thrash metal band, Sacrament seem to languish in the shadow of their more furious and famous cousin, Vengeance Rising. Perhaps this is because they released their debut a couple of years after the initial shock felt by the release of Vengeance Rising\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Human Sacrifice.&nbsp;<\/em>Be that as it may, in 1990, as death metal was hitting its full stride and thrash was receding into the background, Sacrament released one of the heaviest thrash records ever made:&nbsp;<em>Testimony of Apocalypse<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve read that this is argued by some as being the first Christian death metal record (predating Mortification\u2019s self-titled 1991 debut); one could argue that it is a fine example of death\/thrash. For myself, I think Sacrament\u2019s debut is what happens when a band pushes thrash metal as a style and subgenre to its uttermost limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps you\u2019ve been privy to the surgical ear-slicing of Sacrament\u2019s second album&nbsp;<em>Haunts of Violence<\/em>. If so, this is a different beast entirely, though the band maintains its extreme, hard-hitting core. It\u2019s an odd reference, but do you remember that line about \u201cdriving a dump truck through a nitro-glycerin plant\u201d in the movie&nbsp;<em>Christmas Vacation<\/em>? Well,&nbsp;<em>Testimony of Apocalypse<\/em>&nbsp;is that nitro-glycerin plant, and Sacrament are the dump truck.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Testimony of Apocalypse<\/em>&nbsp;has a sonic effect akin to blunt force trauma. Usually, thrash albums are more cutting and precise, even the more violent ones put out by bands like Slayer, Deliverance or Living Sacrifice (on their debut, that is). Not so with Sacrament. Instead,&nbsp;<em>Testimony of Apocalypse<\/em>&nbsp;surges forward like a monolithic, surging wall of sound, the oppressive and murky guitars threatening to swallow the listener whole. Original vocalist Mike Torone\u2019s brawny tough-guy bellows echo what I remember hearing from a band like Biohazard, but display incredible range, going from full-throated roars to high-pitched, Tom Araya-esque screams. It\u2019s overpowering and overwhelming in all the right ways. If that\u2019s not enough, the solos act like a fighter plane dodging anti-aircraft fire, violently and deliberately swooping and swan-diving around the music with fervent complexity. Few thrash bands hit this level of power and brute force, and as someone who favours the extreme end of heavy metal 99% of the time, it really satisfies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sacrament\u2019s lyrics were about as urgent and hard-hitting as their music on this one, too. Echoes of the prophet Ezekiel and the Psalms abound, and the title track\u2019s lyrical thrust is pretty obvious. But the band\u2019s main emphasis here is on the saving work of Christ in the lives of those who choose to believe in and follow Him. Death and suffering are overcome, even in spite of their existence, by Christ\u2019s death and resurrection. Of course, I wish there was also an equal emphasis on the salvific nature of the Incarnation in and of itself, but perhaps that\u2019s just me. Regardless, this is about as intent on evangelizing listeners as it gets, but it\u2019s also about bolstering up the faithful as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re someone who leans to the heavier end of thrash (Slayer and Sepultura over Metallica and Megadeth), and you haven\u2019t yet heard this classic, it\u2019s time to acquaint yourself with one of thrash metal\u2019s finest and most brutal offerings. An overlooked classic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For Fans Of: Vengeance Rising, Slayer, Testament, Deliverance, Opprobrium<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the Vault Review &#8211; Sacrament &#8211;&nbsp;Testimony of Apocalypse Ah, Sacrament. That&nbsp;other&nbsp;nasty Christian thrash metal&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":15463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[187],"class_list":["post-15462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-sacrament-d43"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Sacrament - Testimony of Apocalypse - Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Sacrament - Testimony of Apocalypse - Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the Vault Review &#8211; Sacrament &#8211;&nbsp;Testimony of Apocalypse Ah, Sacrament. That&nbsp;other&nbsp;nasty Christian thrash metal...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HeavensMetal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-15T00:44:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-15T00:44:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jason McLaren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jason McLaren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jason McLaren\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/257fd67dce6c440e6cc10a6961cc88a2\"},\"headline\":\"Review: Sacrament &#8211; Testimony of Apocalypse\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-15T00:44:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T00:44:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":597,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/hmsacrament.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Sacrament\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Review\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: Sacrament - Testimony of Apocalypse - Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/hmsacrament.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-15T00:44:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T00:44:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/hmsacrament.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/hmsacrament.jpeg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":640},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/14\\\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Review: Sacrament &#8211; Testimony of Apocalypse\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Heaven's Metal Magazine\",\"description\":\"The Official Website for Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine [Est. 1985]\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Heaven's Metal Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/Heavens-Metal-modern-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/Heavens-Metal-modern-logo.png\",\"width\":1908,\"height\":456,\"caption\":\"Heaven's Metal Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/HeavensMetal\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/heavensmetal\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UC60Tib86vnRv7obZ4rcQvSA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/HM_(magazine)\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/257fd67dce6c440e6cc10a6961cc88a2\",\"name\":\"Jason McLaren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/cropped-jason-mclaren-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/cropped-jason-mclaren-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/cropped-jason-mclaren-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Jason McLaren\"},\"description\":\"I\u2019m an Orthodox Christian, have a Master\u2019s Degree in Theological Studies, and have been a metal fan for around a quarter of a century. I\u2019ve never been much of a metal traditionalist, so you won\u2019t normally find me spinning Megadeth albums (as good as they might be). Black, death, goth, grind - that\u2019s my thing. I love to scour the furthest reaches of the underground and bring back the gems I find to show others - bit of a show and tell guy. When I\u2019m not blasting the tunes, I love reading works of a theological\\\/spiritual nature, as well as playing a rousing game of chess.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/jmclaren\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Sacrament - Testimony of Apocalypse - Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Sacrament - Testimony of Apocalypse - Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine","og_description":"From the Vault Review &#8211; Sacrament &#8211;&nbsp;Testimony of Apocalypse Ah, Sacrament. That&nbsp;other&nbsp;nasty Christian thrash metal...","og_url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/","og_site_name":"Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HeavensMetal","article_published_time":"2025-08-15T00:44:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-15T00:44:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jason McLaren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jason McLaren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/"},"author":{"name":"Jason McLaren","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/257fd67dce6c440e6cc10a6961cc88a2"},"headline":"Review: Sacrament &#8211; Testimony of Apocalypse","datePublished":"2025-08-15T00:44:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T00:44:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/"},"wordCount":597,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg","keywords":["Sacrament"],"articleSection":["Review"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/","url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/","name":"Review: Sacrament - Testimony of Apocalypse - Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-08-15T00:44:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T00:44:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg","width":640,"height":640},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/14\/review-sacrament-testimony-of-apocalypse\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Review: Sacrament &#8211; Testimony of Apocalypse"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/","name":"Heaven's Metal Magazine","description":"The Official Website for Heaven&#039;s Metal Magazine [Est. 1985]","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#organization","name":"Heaven's Metal Magazine","url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Heavens-Metal-modern-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Heavens-Metal-modern-logo.png","width":1908,"height":456,"caption":"Heaven's Metal Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HeavensMetal","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/heavensmetal\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC60Tib86vnRv7obZ4rcQvSA","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HM_(magazine)"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/257fd67dce6c440e6cc10a6961cc88a2","name":"Jason McLaren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-jason-mclaren-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-jason-mclaren-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-jason-mclaren-96x96.jpg","caption":"Jason McLaren"},"description":"I\u2019m an Orthodox Christian, have a Master\u2019s Degree in Theological Studies, and have been a metal fan for around a quarter of a century. I\u2019ve never been much of a metal traditionalist, so you won\u2019t normally find me spinning Megadeth albums (as good as they might be). Black, death, goth, grind - that\u2019s my thing. I love to scour the furthest reaches of the underground and bring back the gems I find to show others - bit of a show and tell guy. When I\u2019m not blasting the tunes, I love reading works of a theological\/spiritual nature, as well as playing a rousing game of chess.","url":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/author\/jmclaren\/"}]}},"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament-300x300.jpeg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"large":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament.jpeg",640,640,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament-640x380.jpeg",640,380,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hmsacrament-640x450.jpeg",640,450,true]},"author_info":{"info":["Jason McLaren"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/category\/review\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Review<\/a>","tag_info":"Review","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15464,"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15462\/revisions\/15464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}