Tourniquet

Item: Vanishing Lessons
Author: Erik Sellin

Vanishing Lessons

(1994)

Reviewed by Erik Sellin

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music TIDAL Spotify

Label Intense RecordsThe LighthouseOctober 1994

metal progressive metal thrash metal

Tourniquet is back with a new lead vocalist and producer for what may be their best album yet. Luke Easter handles all the vocals and Jim Faraci is on the production helm for the band's fourth, Vanishing Lessons. The rumors concerning a less aggressive sound that have started (and not helped by the new logo and cover art) are founded primarily in the presence of a couple tunes which are not the screaming 100mph grooves that the group is known for. Fans of their heavier stuff can take comfort in the fact that they still can get as heavy as ever, as evidenced by "Pecking Order" and "Acid Head." The album contains plenty of the characteristic guitar harmonies and throbbing bass sounds, furnished by Gary Lenaire and Victor Macias.

The spiritual caliber of the album's lyrics are as strong as ever. Listeners are given a taste of the strong new vocals in the opening seconds of the first track, "Bearing Gruesome Cargo," a song about using one's past as an excuse for one's behavior. The album deals with a number of topics usually left alone, such as the part-ballad (!) "My Promise," which is penned from the perspective of a new husband to his new stepchild. Easter even hits some high notes on this one. Drummer Ted Kirkpatrick, who wrote most of the songs, gets a chance to shine on "K517," which is simply an intense drum solo (without any overdubs) over Domenico Scarlatti's 517th sonata. "Twilight" is a slow melodic, lyrically-convicting song about the neglect of the elderly in our society. Vanishing Lessons is quite a change for Tourniquet, but the change really worked here, and the album should help establish them further as one of the premiere bands in Christian metal.