Vengeance Rising

Item: Human Sacrifice
Author: Doug Van Pelt

Human Sacrifice

(1988)

Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt

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Label Intense RecordsHeaven's Metal #18September 1988

death metal thrash metal

This album is utterly awesome! I used to not appreciate thrash. It used to not impress me. A friend once gave me tickets to see Metallica two years ago and I came away wondering what all the fuss over thrash was about. All these attitudes, of course, were demolished when I first heard the Vengeance demo. I love it! Vengeance is extremely tight. The vocal sound is very, very intense. When the band starts jamming, you hear a sound as precise as a machine. I know of no band who goes to the effort Vengeance does of laying down solid doctrine in their songs. Producer and label president, Caesar Kalinowski, tells me that even secular execs at Enigma are fully impressed with the songwriting of lead throat-scratcher Roger Martinez. "Human Sacrifice" is truly a ground-breaking album for Christian metal. This record features the most intense sound ever released to the Christian market. Christians have finally caught up with their secular counterparts (Slayer, Exodus, Kreator) and have even surpassed them. Don't buy this album if you're expecting a ballad. There's no soft lyrics or music here, except maybe the "Ascention" instrumental. Highlights on the album are: "Burn"; "I Love Hating Evil"; and the five songs from their demo ("White Throne", "Salvation", "He Is God", "Beheaded", and the title track). Martinez sends shivers down your spine when he howls and asks, "Are you listening to what I say?" or growls "I love hating evil," and also when he screams at the end of "Beheaded". Larry Farkas' leads are blazing, expecially during the title track. "Burn" and "Mulligan's Stew" show Vengeance's ability to slow down for a moshing style of thrash, which may be the type of sound thrashers take in the future if they decide to reach a broader audience. Everyone should buy at least two copies of this album. One for personal enjoyment and one to give to an unsaved thrasher/ speed metal freak. The incredible music will demand respect from thrash connoisseurs and the scriptural lyrics will confront all sinners. Thrash: Nobody does it better than Vengeance.