Demon Preacher

Deathwish's Demon Preacher is one criminally underrated album, though judging by the reviews on here, whoever knows it loves it with great reason. Little is known about the background and origin of the British thrash quartet, and why they decided to call it quits after this absolute masterpiece of an album. Let's just hope it was something that would have been extremely detrimental to delivering this type of chiseled, cutting-edge speed thrash with a large dose of melody that we can hear on this magnificent sophomore record. This album is truly one of a kind, and it doesn't matter how much time you'll spend looking for stuff like this, I guarantee you that you will have a very hard time finding any. I've yet to hear anything that would have made me go "Wow, this sounds like Deathwish", and I heard a couple of underground thrash albums before.

Why is that? Just check out the album. The foundation of the album is traditional, tried 'n true speed thrash, much like early Razor and in addition, Whiplash's Power and Pain comes to mind regarding the style of this release. But that's just the foundation. Deathwish decided that instead of relying on more mainstream, common methods such as sheer brutality, they will make this record melodic. And I don't mean merely clever and effective, catchy, hooky riffs that you'd hear from the aforementioned Whiplash, because that's pretty common in this genre. I mean legitimately sophisticated and intellectually thought-out melodies that make this record melodic, in similar ways to how a power metal record or a speed metal record would be melodic. They serve as the main element the band builds on. Extremely few bands can mix melodies (in the conventional, traditional sense) with thrash metal, because there is such great polarity and contradiction between those two elements. But Deathwish pulled it off better than nearly anyone I can think of with the exception of Hexen, who are just as good.

The songs on here, as aforementioned are pretty speed-oriented, with very high paces on several of the songs. For example, "Carrion" hauls ass so fast that you'll have a pretty difficult time headbanging along to it, but it does not cross the line of chaotic massacre. Everything feels very much under control and well-controlled due to the soothing melodies during the chorus and the extreme precision with every note and beat. Same thing with my favorite song off the record "Wall of Lies" which easily has the most gripping and brilliantly written chorus. How they wrote something that smoothly flowing yet complex and sophisticated remains a secret of history. Not only that, but the solo of that song is another beast of its own. The solo is highly coherent and communicative, and you'll find your body completely taken over by the thrash metal brilliancy, and a wicked, rotten smile will spread across your face as you hear the main rhythm riff behind the shredding turn into the chorus riff after a blistering drum fill some time in the middle of the solo. All of that while holding the pedal to the metal. Jaw-dropping, utter brilliance in songwriting.

But Deathwish understood that they have to make this record complete, so they included a couple of more experimental pieces on here. Come on, dude, if that simple yet effective main riff over the ultra-tight, crushing, pounding drumming doesn't get you headbanging from 1:14 as the song picks up, you have serious issues you have to deal with. But the song is more experimental, because of the fact that it includes a minute-and-a-half long solo during which the song slows down entirely. Absolutely no problem, because Dave Brunt can handle it without showing any sign of exhaustion. His blues-scale shredding is way more intelligent and brainy than most lead guitar work in thrash metal. "Prey to the Lord" is the longest song on the album with its 7+ minute length. It doesn't feel that long though, due to the very clever switches in the drum patterns and the numerous sections the song goes through that are linked together by absolutely seamless transitions. Deathwish failed to make a mistake on the entire album.

While there is an unholy number of outstanding, amazing thrash metal albums from Europe, this is well beyond outstanding. Deathwish managed to write something that's not only perfect and complete in the style it was written, but they did something that essentially no band ever did except for one or two. They made melodic thrash metal. And you might doubt why I like this album so much, because you saw me talking about how br00tal and aggressive thrash albums are the best. True, but the fact that this is melodic and isn't necessarily ALL about aggression and malice, doesn't mean that this album isn't heavy enough. Make no mistake about it, this is a fucking heavy album. The drums and the neck-breaking speed create a backbone for this album that's more than strong enough to take this record up there with the very best. Sorry Onslaught, sorry Acid Reign, Hydra Vein and Xentrix... This is my favorite British thrash album of all time.

Everyone loves strong debuts, especially the respective bands which didn't fail their first step into the metal kingdom, though they come with a huge pressure to surpass them with the eventual sophomores as the obvious drawback. Many bands passed also that exam, just as many others failed or didn't show up altogether, and now, in 1988, it was Deathwish's turn. Previous year's At the Edge of Damnation showed a pretty unique hybrid of thrash and traditional metal, yet they weren't content with that. No, with Demon Preacher, their idea was more along the lines of demonstrating that the Old England, albeit hardly present in the scene, could easily beat the USA at their own game if provoked...

Apparently, everyone in the band shared the same mindset (with the possible exception of bassist Stuart Ranger, who had left in the meantime). Drummer Brad Sims immediately accepted the challenge and projected his already no-frills style to several bpms higher. Dave Brunt, apart from also picking up bass duties, kept avoiding the simplest tremolo riffs with disarming ease, capitalizing on the debut's strong heavy metal influences and re-elaborating the riffwork to match the newfound intensity... to say nothing of his leads, which are still top-tier stuff. Of course, Jon Van Doorn is once again soaring over this foundation with his slightly nasal delivery, and apparently some extra confidence resulting in even more frequent excursions into sharp falsettos, yet another ace up Deathwish's rather ample sleeve.

In a perfect world (not unlike that dictatorship I hinted at before), the title-track and opener already immortalized the band's legacy. The intro riff, which somehow echoes of contemporary Bathory material (think Blood Fire Death), is immediately hammered into your brain, and then proceeds to keep the beating constant for a full minute before the actual entrance of Van Doorn, with everybody pretty much never letting go of the gas pedal. Not to mention that there's a hugely effective chorus somewhere in it. Memorability-wise, 'Demon Preacher' has everything it takes to stand defiantly before the household names of the genre. It's at the end of this very song that you realize that, for how good At the Edge of Damnation was, it was a mere warm-up in the grand scheme of things.

All of this would surely seem premature, given that we analyzed only one track so far... as if every other song here didn't nail that thrash/heavy balance just as masterfully. The latter factor starts to gain prominence in the melodic solutions of 'Carrion' and again in the more measured, but equally brilliant 'Visions of Insanity', be it the sung intro, smoothly lead by Van Doorn, or the long solo in the middle. Yet, Deathwish never let it usurp thrash's throne, and so there's no such thing as an entirely slow song this time. They even find a way to sneak a frantic thrash coda to the unexpected Black Sabbath cover. Only 'Prey to the Lord' (subtle) inevitably needs to try something a bit more different, from the top of its running time exceeding 7 minutes, and yet it's enviably flawless as well. Apart from Brunt's obvious guitar seminar, Van Doorn really shines on the refrain, with even the lyrics following a smart, interesting twist that sets Deathwish worlds apart from your average, run-of-the-mill satanic band even in this department.

Still, for some reason, searching for filler? Better move on to another album, then. Granted, there are only seven proper songs, but that alone doesn't justify how perfect the solo section of 'Wall of Lies' is, or why Van Doorn suddenly got possessed by Jon Oliva on the ultra-fast closer 'Fatal Attraction''s bridge. Even the calm acoustic footnote 'Past Life' only confirms that this truly is classy stuff, even if there's just a bit too much background noise during the last minute that mostly serves as a reminder that we're still listening to obscure '80s thrash, and not some shredder laying down an interlude on his latest release for Shrapnel.

Sadly, nothing's really perfect, and Demon Preacher is no exception, although downsides are very few in number. I may attract some aversions here but, to be honest, I've never been this huge 'Symptom of the Universe' fan, and even more so here since the song sure fits in decently, but the average level of the surroundings is so high I'd have liked another original composition in its place. Considering the lone year lapse between the debut album and this, they probably didn't have another song ready for an equally fast release, although the impeccable timing wasn't enough to preserve them from an untimely demise. For a minor nitpicking of mine, there's no way that the riff set of 'Prey to the Lord' isn't rehashed from the title-track, but hey, if you gotta steal, might as well do it from the best, am I right?

Pedantry aside, I can't really underline enough that, if you've got this far in the review and still didn't start playing the album, you have already wasted too much time. Do a favor to yourself and prepare to see all your notions about thrash metal from England being invalidated. Truly the definition of 'criminally underrated'.

For a country that was at the forefront of everything nasty and anti-establishment about rock music in the late 1970s, the UK doesn't get nearly the level of respect it would seemingly deserve for its contribution to its even nastier metallic offshoot. But if there was a singular album that could command such respect, and even go so far as to rival the heavy hitters of all the other scenes that were wrecking necks in the 80s, Deathwish's Demon Preacher would be the one. All of the darkened intensity of Germany's mid-80s Teutonic thrash explosion, the riff crazy proponents of the San Francisco Bay Area, and even the tech. obsessed characters spread across the rest of the continental U.S. are put on notice with this sonic child of perdition. In fact, even after repeated listens one is drawn to check the names of the band members and their country of origin just to insure that they are actually British given the massive divergence this thing represents from the rest of the pack.

In fairly stark contrast to their raunchy and low-fidelity debut, Deathwish has found themselves in a much crisper and more atmospherically dense place with this album, occasionally blurring the lines between the high octane thrashing character one expects from the late 80s with the creepier death/thrash atmosphere that would become a bit more common in the early 90s. This is best represented in the church bell chiming prelude to this monster "Death Procession", pounding out punchy power chords with a vengeance while echoing the slow trudging character of a funeral march. Similarly, much of the slower territory explored on "Visions Of Insanity" is almost theatrical in demeanor, occasionally drawing upon some droning keyboard lines to amplify the darkened atmosphere, while the guitar solo work sees a much more polished demeanor to rival most of the masters of the Bay Area scene, and the high octane thrashing sections speed with all the intensity of Dark Angel's famed mid-80s material.

Everything about this album comes off as a highly effective upgrade of where the band had seeming wanted to go on At The Edge Of Damnation. The mix is still fairly bass heavy and though not as informed by the gritty Motorhead sound that was on much of the debut, pulls this thing into territory conducive to the highly effective Sabbath cover. This band's rendition of "Symptom Of The Universe" both highlights and exaggerates the proto-thrash character of the song, giving it enough punch to rattle one's ribs and includes a vocal performance out of Jon Van Doorn that is so shriek-happy and demented that it would make Tom Araya blush. That's another major point of contrast relative to the debut album, Doorn's vocals are a bit more polished and flamboyant, bringing a bit more of a gritty side to his mid-ranged growl and spending about twice as much time in glass-shattering territory. Combined with a far more nimble riff set and a faster and more precise drumming performance out of Brad Sims, songs like "Demon Preacher" and "Wall Of Lies" present a sizable challenge to the most speed obsessed and spine-lashing adherents to the sub-genre.

It can be said without even the slightest trace of hyperbole that this is one of the most insane offerings of 80s thrash metal out there, to the point of challenging the certified collections of stylistic mastery as represented in Beneath The Remains, Agent Orange, Darkness Descends and Pleasure To Kill. Had this album come out in 1986 in San Francisco rather than Britain in 1988, it would have been universally hailed as an equal competitor to the crown as all of the classics that came with that year and began the road into what would ultimately become death metal. Stylistically this is further removed from death metal than the mid-80s offerings of Sepultura, Slayer and Possessed, but it definitely shows a degree of darkness and intensity that sets it apart from most of the mainline proponents of the style. The world may never know if Deathwish could have topped this album, but to this day most thrash metal bands haven't, and that truly says something for a band that had such a limited output.

I will never understand why the vast majority of talented British thrash bands did not have the power to realize their musical visions sustainably. Slammer, D.A.M. or Sabbat, to name but three, split up much too soon. Deathwish also released only two albums. This was very unfortunate, in particular with regard to their outstanding performance on "Demon Preacher". But before I try to describe the music itself, I want to write a few words about its production. The dense and massive sound did not lack of depth or substance. While being neither sterile or brightly polished, it scored with its dark impenetrability. Well, the bass guitar did not reveal its full force. Nevertheless, the vigorous mix constituted a plus point of the album.

Despite the fact that the band took definitely part in the thrash movement, both its sound and the cover artwork also showed some blackened elements. The unholy background choir at the beginning of "Visions of Insanity" demonstrated the cross-references to the black scene as well as the atmospheric and sublime "Death Procession", which created the perfect mood for the following sonic scenario. The recording of Black Sabbath´s "Symptom of the Universe" pointed in the same direction. Better still, the band knew how to arrange this classic in an energetic manner. Consequently, this tune blended seamlessly with their own compositions. Guitarist Dave Brunt had written seven songs and vocalist Jon Van Doorn contributed "Wall of Lies". The opener of the B side was one of the fastest songs. Its precise guitar lines were top notch. But Deathwish also managed to present mid-paced numbers with a stirring guitar work. Just listen to the mighty "Prey to the Lord". Its hypnotizing guitars appeared as a sonic maelstrom that pulled you into the song in an irresistible manner. Despite the fact that this opus had a playtime of more than seven minutes, it was still too short. And of course, the same was true for the further highlights such as the title track or "Carrion". But let´s put it in positive terms, the compositions scored with their compactness while omitting any superfluous parts and useless repetitions.

Van Doorn made good use of his voice. He managed slightly melodic vocal lines as well as high-pitched screams. But in general, he was focused on vigorous sprechgesang. It was not the most triumphant vocal performance, but it fulfilled its purpose in a more than convincing manner. In view of the fact that the other bandmembers also displayed their abilities, "Demon Preacher" did not fail to make an impact. Even the last number added value to the album, although it was just a guitar piece. It created a special atmosphere and appeared as a requiem, for the album as well as for the band itself. After the preceding high speed attacks, this was an unexpected yet suitable ending.

Due to the enthusiasm of the band, it seemed to be logical that this was the next big thing in terms of underground thrash. The almost perfect combination of thrashing guitars, sinister melodies and rapidly hammering drums was predestined to push the band to the next level. But a bitter surprise awaited us. Deathwish vanished silently. All that remains is a strong debut and the gargantuan second album. The latter one must be given a central place in the hall of fame of British thrash metal. Hopefuly, it is already installed in immediate vicinity to Onslaught´s "The Force" and "Sounds of Violence". With regard to this fact, the destiny of Deathwish is much better than that of groups such as Terrorizer that delivered lukewarm comebacks and destroyed their excellent reputation at the same time.