| Reviews for Razor (Can)'s Executioner's Song |
| Blazing hot - 95% |
| Written by autothrall
on November 6th, 2009
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| Many fans consider Razor's other 1985 album, Evil Invaders to be their true cult masterpiece. Others consider their more punchy, frenetic, and violent later work like Violent Restitution to be their best. While I fall in the latter category, there is no question in my mind that Executioner's Song is not only their most overlooked album, but one of the greatest Canadian heavy metal albums ever conceived. At its roots its a dirty NWOBHM-inspired record like something you'd have heard from their countrymen Exciter, but more aggressive and certainly contains hints toward their later direction. All the songs are excellent and inspirational. Stace Sheepdog's vocals are gritty and awesome, and Dave Carlo is one of the best riff writers ever. "Take This Torch" is a speed metal anthem of energetic, distinct chords and a great chorus (love that bass): 'Bright lights, now you can see where you are Far, out in the universe Now, you, try to escape from this spot Hot, ready or not Take this torch' I don't quite get it either and I don't care, my previous band Extinction Agenda used to cover this song at our rehearsals and my only regret is that we never performed it live. Amazing track, and not the only one on the record. "Fast and Loud" is your typical metal party song but this was no Mötley Crüe, it was far more aggressive and you could totally envision yourself doing a circle mosh and impaling some fool in the head with a spiked gauntlet. "City of Damnation" is simply one of the most amazing and filthy raw speed metal tracks ever written on Earth. If you don't like that chorus part then you don't fucking like real metal. "Escape the Fire" also thrills with its catchy melodic muted riff erupting into the speed and chords and glory. And there are so many more, the molten rocking riffs of "Distant Thunder". The blazing "Hot Metal". The sun-hot "Time Bomb". If you can't already tell this album burns to the touch. I can feel the sweat on my skin just thinking about it. It makes me want to get a leather mask and a whip, some 80s metal chicks with big hair and then make them dance for me in a cage. This is the world I live in, at least when I hear this record. -autothrall http://www.fromthedustreturned.com |
| We have a winner - Take This Torch! - 80% |
| Written by Xeogred
on April 29th, 2008
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| Well this is fairly simple album, so I'll make this a quicker review. I had Razor's popular Evil Invaders for the longest time but its greatness didn't really hit me until recently. So I did what I needed to do and took a vast dive into their discography, honestly finding myself disappointed with several of their releases thanks to some horrifyingly odd productions. This was pretty annoying since Evil Invaders had this thunderously heavy mix with gatling-gun guitars rapidly firing away and gave off a rather vile demeanor. Eventually though I got their debut here and right off the bat, my face was blown into pieces. It's not nearly as evil as their follow up, but this quite a fierce beast itself. Take This Torch ... hot damn, you don't get much catchier than this one. This is the kind of metal I could tune into endlessly and listen to all day everyday. Crazy melodic speed / NWOBHM-ish rhythms, layered with awesome bass lines, fast drums, and insanely memorable vocals along with the ultimate chorus itself. My enjoyment stationed itself throughout the rest of the album but once I was done with it, what came to mind? Sadly, not a lot sticks here and even if I don't argue against simplicity that often, Razor were just a little too simplistic with their debut and at times some of these tracks even sound a bit dated for 1985 (as in this is the kind of stuff people were playing in the early 80's). Overall though this album really isn't that bad and heck, it's probably my second favorite release from them after Evil Invaders. The majority of it is just kind of a "hit or miss" case though, this goes for just about everything. Sometimes it sounds like McLaren is just slurring out random words and his vocals don't do much, riffs and or drums get repetitive, a song just doesn't work or develop, etc. But for the most part I think if you're a fan of classic 80's metal with an appetite for speed containing layers of NWOBHM influences you could still get a kick out of this. And no joke, but this album is definitely worth hearing for Take This Torch alone anyways. I'd say both Escape The Fire and Gatecrusher are high quality offerings as well, these two wouldn't have sounded out of place on Evil Invaders. I'll admit Fast And Loud is pretty catchy and March Of Death certainly isn't bad either. Deathrace also comes to mind having some of the best and original rhythms off the album. In final I do feel like I should note that the production is definitely not pretty on this album either, though compared to several of the releases after Evil Invaders, the mix on this one just feels far more complete and listenable. It's fairly raw but with the material at hand here the sound goes together perfectly with the music. Ironically enough the production off their previous Armed And Dangerous EP actually beats out the mix here (which contains a handful of the tracks here), though I have to say I prefer this version of Take This Torch over the EP's. I'd say the cloudy atmosphere gives it a lot of character and McLaren's vocals on this one sound way better with his screams echoing in the distance away and whatnot. This album could really go hand in hand with their previous EP's though, so if you get this you may as well check those out too. Don't expect much of a precursor to Evil Invaders with this one but if you want some commendable Venom worship with it's handful of moments, give it a shot. "Hot, ready or not? Take This Torch!!" |
| True greatness still eludes - 78% |
| Written by Gutterscream
on September 16th, 2005
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| “…welcome to the slaughter…hope you’re having fun…” Funny enough, the four songs found on the previous year’s Armed and Dangerous EP actually sound less dated than the ones recorded especially for this eleven songer. Obviously, the EP’s tracks weren’t refurbished for this, and the recorded-through-a-chimney production blessing these newer tracks not only dates them harder, it sucks out a layer of potential lethality you know the Canucks can muster at the drop of a hat. Not to re-describe the tracks from Armed and Dangerous, I’ll just say the seminal “Take This Torch” is still king of the hill with feverish main riff and star-studded, picture o’ thrash chorus. While a tiny bit more controlled, “Fast and Loud” seconds the motion of the previous track with another raucous chorus. “Hot Metal” is still simplistically catchy while (groan) “The End” never gets off the ground nor tries to, its aim seemingly to end the lp with the punch of a book about rust. “City of Damnation” is the first of the ‘new’ tracks and despite its quick demeanor and muddy grit sticks to the slightly above average side of life with backing vocals failing to enliven a fairly uneventful chorus, but there is a nifty scream or two in there. “Escape the Fire” grabs the reins “City of Damnation” was too lazy to lean over to get and guides the lp back to solid ground with a more aggressive breaking chorus and short solo bursts. “March of Death” is along the lines of “City of Damnation”, rearing nothing unique or really memorable except for some abrasive Carlo soloing. “Distant Thunder” is probably the most commercially traditional track the quartet has ever meddled with; dragging a very uninteresting tempo around until the end when the pace builds to a jog, during which they actually attempt an unprecedented (to this day) slice of Maiden-ish euro-zing that truthfully isn’t half bad. The superbly named “Gatecrasher” revolves around an assailing stop-start riff, is admirably quarrelsome, and great ending that includes some fairly clean screams in unexpected Halford-ian sound and style. “Deathrace” (with some lethal solos) equals “City of Damnation” and “March of Death”, while “Time Bomb” manages to saunter by them on the strength of a rhythm a few breaths livelier than conventional. That baby crying at the start and finish of “The End” is me…now that’s how you want to end your debut, with a song more feeble and pointless than a contact lens worn by a baby chick. Some chose to disregarded Razor’s follow-up to this based on its more or less average nature, and while Executioner’s Song may be the weakest product in the band’s catalog by production and songwriting standards, there are moments of grandeur that shouldn’t be missed. “…this album is dedicated to all who bought it. Play it loud to remove unwanted company…” |