Twilight Dominion

Usurper is a Chicago band that apparently just lives, eats, breathes and shits metal. They are devoted to the fucking craft and I can respect that. But it helps that Twilight Dominion in particular among their discography is just this undeniable juggernaut of an album.

It’s a refinement of their earlier albums, which were gnarly, filthy stuff that took the Celtic Frost formula and made it somehow even more morbid and macabre. It’s a crossroads between black, thrash and death that pulls in a classic-metal sense of melody and songwriting character. These songs are full of big, barbaric riffs that slam and thrash and you can’t help but headbang – guitarist and band-leader Rick Scythe has as good a riff-writing sense as any of the more well known classic musicians. Singer General Diabolical Slaughter’s main influence is Tom Warrior, as he powers out this gravelly, gritty style with all the “UGH!” power you could want.

But none of this would matter if the songwriting wasn’t so good – every track on this thing is unforgettable, imbued with a hook power that few extreme metal bands can muster. These are catchy songs, and complex ones. The band drew as much from the classic writing of Black Sabbath-esque doom and the melodic work of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, weaving that into their blackened, thrashing mayhem, and it makes songs like “Lycanthropic” and “She-Devil” into involved, winding hell-storms of melody and power, each running through multiple parts, seguing from blasting mayhem into head-crushing riffs like sorcery of some dark nature.

Other songs like “Utopian Nightmare” and “Vatican Time Machine” are laced with swampy, ultra-heavy grooves that will leave imprints in your bones, and album climax “Oath of Silence” is like if Iron Maiden were run through the Paris Catacombs on Halloween night – the drums pound like war-horse hooves, the riff is a galloping tour-de-force and GD Slaughter bellows like a fucking devil. Opener “Metal Lust” even redeems its goofy lyrics with an undeniable, utterly classic riff and propulsive heavy attack that will hook you in the first minute. I can’t pick a weak track at all. Lyrically, this is all about monsters and the occult, with some songs delving into this "Chronovisor" concept that I had to look up after hearing the album - it's pulp, badass stuff that is exactly what I want to hear on an album like this.

This brings me back to the days when I was first discovering how awesome heavy metal was. These are songs full of life and character. The writing, the riffs, the hooks and the atmosphere are immaculate and of the same quality that any of the classic albums you ever loved had, with the certain ja ne sais quois of conviction and passion that puts it over the top. I just love the fuck out of this stuff.

I can always appreciate a band for trying to branch out, but in the case of Usurper's third album Necronemesis, that branching out involved a rather mediocre watering down of the band's heavier than though, raging Hellhammer roots, an offering of dessicated thrash that neither excited nor compelled through anything bordering on the monstrous evil conveyed by many black/thrash acts. A few years later, with a new drummer in tow, the band would return to the studio to produce their fourth full-length, Twilight Dominion, and through a new label...none other than Earache records. This is not a far cry from Necronemesis in terms of style, and some ways, it still suffers from that records blase riff writing.

I'll even go further, and admit that General Diabolical Slaughter's vocals here are rather boring, even in comparison to the previous album. He still gives a good grunt here or there, and in truth he spins around and heads back towards a tone more reminiscent of his older, Tom G. Warrior vocals, but a lot of the lines here feel monotonous and simply too clean. They had me craving the old Diabolical Slaughter, who sounded like a parting of graveyard soil to vomit out the dead that they might torment the living. Here he sounds like any old random, 2nd or 3rd rate thrash singer with a pretty manly, angry voice that sounds a little weaker than the music surrounding it. The riffs also suffer a little, but Twilight Dominion benefits from something Necronemesis did not have: a thicker tone which naturally adds a slight layer of atmosphere.

This album most reminds me of the great US band Deceased, in particular their album Fearless Undead Machines. The music is nowhere near as good, but the blend of classic, dark and melodic speed metal riffs and leads within the denser compost of black, death and thrash metal really casts a similar shadow, and the vocals are also similar to King Fowley. When the communion of riffing fury and vocal abandon works, it works well. "Golem" shows a strong side to the band, with engaging walls of death metal riffing, thundering, precision drums and a massive collapse into thick doom for the finale. "Utopian Nightmare" also builds a great, Celtic Frost and Cathedral inspired groove infused with some solid chugging and Necromancer's strong bass presence (which is true of the entire album). The leads in "She-Devil" are nice and wild, "Lycanthropic" and "I Am Usurper" get a pass, and "Invincible Overlords" might suffice if you seek something more scathing. The lyrics are almost all based around pulpy horror and science fiction themes, which have a lot of appeal to me.

One of the worst songs here is, of course, "Metal Lust". For some strange reason, the band has yet again decided to include another 'metal way of life' track (I refer you to "Warriors of Iron and Rust" on the last album), which feels pretty meek in the face of the cooler topics they explore in other songs. Hell, the latter half of the album's tracks revolve around the 'Chronovisor' myth! Now that's fucking cool! Clearly Usurper were a respectable metal band to anyone with ears. So "Metal Lust" sounds phony, and phoned in, especially when Slaughter intones 'nothing else to live for, a Metal way of life, nothing else to live for, so I will make you die!'. For the thousandth time, a song like this is complete unnecessary. Maybe to an extra terrestrial visiting Earth in 1985, it was a helpful piece of advice when a band proudly announced their "Metal _ _ _ _" in a song title. But by 2003, we all fucking understand. We know you are a metal band. We're your fans. We listen to you because we like metal music. It's a foregone conclusion. I'd expect this sort of output from a clown band like Dream Evil, and I realize it's just meant in good fun, but do we really need this sort of predictable, self-referential material from a generally good band like this one?

It's frustrating, but what can you do. Twilight Dominion is a better album than Necronemesis, but the band would have a long way to go before they reach the bar they set from 1995-1999. Half the songs here are worthwhile, the other half not so much. This doesn't always work as a thrash metal record, as the rhythms are too familiar and fundamental, but the leads are pretty exciting throughout, and if you're seeking out a more brute companion to Deceased's Fearless Undead Machines or Supernatural Addiction, you may have found one. The mix sounds good and thick, in particular the bass and guitars, but the vocals feel like a man going through the motions, too easily dismissed, except when he bursts into life like the vicious, black metal screaming in "She-Devil". Coincidentally, this would be General Diabolic Slaughter's last record with the band, with Dan Tyrantor taking over for the final slay-ride, Cryptobeast.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Yeeeeaaaaaarrrrgh! I am Usurper! Bow your head! Die! Die! Man oh man. This is album number four for this great Chicago band, and it friggin’ rules. I only recently discovered the joys of Usurper, and was still rocking out to "Necronemesis" when I got ahold of this - a feast for the metal heart.

As a whole this is more tightly written and heavier than "Necronemesis", with some absolutely stellar songs. If you love the heavy kick of old Celtic Frost or even Black Sabbath, then tunes like "Lycanthropic", "I Am Usurper" and "The Oath of Silence" will get you off big time. This is metal with meat on it, and under the sure hand of veteran producer Neil Kernon the Chi-town boys have produced their best-sounding record yet. The guitars are thick and anvil-heavy, and the lower end of the mix is so thick it has fur on it. The Tom Warrior-esque grunts of frontman General Diabolical Slaughter may be an acquired taste for some, but he has throttled back on the crazed-mutant shrieks that have peppered previous releases. The whole band sounds tight and kick-ass heavy, and the songwriting is more focused and consistent than on any of their old albums. "Twilight Dominion" is the work of a band completely in control of their music. These guys know what they are doing and set about it with murderous intensity.

The CD package is very classy, with a great cover painting by Craig Simpson and lavish layouts for the band pics and lyrics, including some short paragraphs explaining what the heck some of the lyrics are about. Usurper are known for dark lyrical themes exploring lots of ‘mysteries of the unexplained’, and here they touch on lycanthropy, native American myths, Qabbalic lore and hollow-earth theories, among other things. All this stuff may be bullshit, but it makes for entertaining lyrics that are a refreshing change from the usual "March of the Kings" or "Satan in the Cold Woods" nonsense. They do indulge in a metal-anthem with "Metal Lust", but it’s still a great tune, and I’ll bet it’s fun live.

There’s almost nothing bad to say about this band, or this album. Usurper play metal that remembers how metal is supposed to be: Loud, heavy, and in your face. One listen and you’ll understand why some people call this ‘true metal’. METAL! METALMETALMETAL! UGH! UNH! AAAAAAARRRRRGH! Sorry, got carried away there for a second. I’m playing the album right now, and can no longer contain myself. Go buy this CD right now. I’ll be in the yard with an axe and a scowl, you can meet me there later. I AM USURPER! BOW YOUR HEAD! DIE! DIE!

Originally written for www.metalcrypt.com

Celtic Frost's baby has grown and released what many have considered the best release of 2003. Excuse me for being a real dick, but how in the hell is something like this one of the best? This is one of the corniest releases I've ever came across.

I have real mixed feelings about this release. The production for one is crisp clean and such song like “Metal Lust” is, of course, a grand masterpiece. It's so jingoistic, so patriotic... so metal! That's the main reason why I like the song a lot, but it reminds me so much of Manowar with their cheesy metal anthems (just this metal anthem isn't cheesy, it's quite fitting and deserves honor.) Though, you move on to such a track like "The Struggle Of Tyrants" and that song just really ruins the vibe which the first song gave off. It's kind of like "what the hell" the first time I heard the transition because it begins to slow down to this mediocre beat and riff and all of a sudden, I realized the vocalist kind of isn't good at what he's suppose to do. His voice can get annoying; it has that Manowar quality to it... that traditional heavy metal voice I mean and personally, I'm not all that much of a traditional metal fan so this really turned me away from the album.

Besides, I thought this was suppose to be some "black/thrash" mix and people have called them one of the best at this. I still can't see the "thrashy" side to them nor can I see the black side much (except in the song "Invincible Overlords" which is a kick-ass black/thrash song with the guy finally throwing in some true black metal screeches... he should've sung like that all throughout the album I believe.) Plus, as you move on, you begin to realize that this band can be worse than Children Of Bodom. Yup, you got it right, they're a super cheesy band... case study: "She Devil." This song reeks corniness from the beginning to the end. You would think from the decent beginning that this song would be kick ass (and the music is kick ass; very progressive if you ask me) but then the lyrical theme kills it. Basically, the song is about your "average bitch" I guess you can say or a whore. They could've been more artistic with their lyrics, but I guess Usurper aren't that kind of band (they say in interviews all the time "we just like to write about battles, occults, and heavy fucking metal" so I guess that explains the lack of effort behind the song writing. A thesaurus doesn't hurt guys!)

I don't know if it's just me not being so much into these "heavy metal" oriented themes or if it's just the music, but I still am not connecting with the album like I was expecting. I was really excited when I got this album but sadly I've been let down. I'm not saying it's a piece of crap or anything, but it's not "black/thrash" like I was expecting. It's more like heavy metal with some black influences and yeah, maybe some thrash, but the album doesn't sound very thrashy. Besides, this is too cheesy for my liking (the CD overflows with cheese, did I mention that before?!) They're talented alright; just too bad they seem to try so hard with their heavy metal image.

Metal warriors rejoice because this is your kind of stuff. I think I'll stick to the less lactose stuff so thank you and have a good day, and may the metal lust be with you always.

Ear Candy: Metal Lust, Invincible Overlords, She Devil...

Usurper are a thrash/black metal band formed as a side project in 1992. Since then, the band has released three full length albums, and have exceeded their own expectations. Their fourth album, TWILIGHT DOMINION is set to be released by Earache Records on March 24th in Europe, and next month in North America.

Basically, this album fuses together thrash and black metal elements to great effect. The first song on the album, "Metal Lust," is fast and has a very catchy riff -- always the best way to start an album! Usurper fans will recognize the deep, growling vocals straight away, as they have not changed since previous releases. The main change on this album is the production. It is far superior to previous albums, and the guitars are a lot clearer, creating a more crushing sound.

My least favorite song on this album is "Godless and Lycanthropic." The first four minutes of song are a lot slower than the other tracks on the albums, chugging along with a very repetitive riff, almost Pantera-like (but much better). The last minute of the song isn't bad though...

All the other songs on the album are great, a lot of catchy riffs and pounding drums. There are also a few melodies hidden in there, if you can find them. I couldn't pick out a really bad track on this album, as even "Godless and Lycanthropic" is a pretty decent song.

On TWILIGHT DOMINION, Usurper blast the listener away with 59 minutes of unrelenting speed and aggression. I guarentee you will headbang to this album, and it will be in your CD player for a long, long time! Fans of the band will love this album, and non-believers will be converted. Perfect in every way (almost)...

(Originally written by me for http://metal-rules.com)