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Merciless Death > Realm of Terror > Reviews
Merciless Death - Realm of Terror

Merciless Boredom - 55%

tidalforce79, December 25th, 2017

Thrash metal became such a cherished genre in the eighties and nineties that no fan wanted to see it end. Ultimately; however, thrash became the architect of its own demise. Bands that tried to break new ground in the genre often failed through poor execution of new ideas, or simply the attempted incorporation of musical styles that were irreconcilable. Other bands; such as Dark Angel gained moderate success by delving into the realm of technicality.

Merciless Death is a band that attempted to resurrect the thrash metal genre. Instead of moving forward, the band sought to reestablish the simplicity of albums past. Along with bands like Evile and Warbringer, Merciless Death attempted to spearhead a new thrash metal revolution. Consequently, they failed, ending up as nothing more than the perpetrators of rehashed ideas.

Realm of Terror can be looked at as the generic brand in the thrash world. There is very little variety in any of the songs. While the band does not completely suck, they do nothing to stand out from the crowd.

The basic execution of the songs might date the band, save for the modern production. “Modern” does not means the posh production found in European power metal or even recent thrash efforts by Paradox or Kreator, but rather an intentional use of “raw” sound quality-be it through the tools of digital media. If the goal was to sound “old school,” the band did, in fact, succeed.

Immediately upon hearing the first riff, the feeling of déjà vu radiates in the air. Nothing is offered that hasn’t been offered a thousand times before. Furthermore, Merciless Death does not even execute old ideas particularly well. If this album was released twenty years prior, it would be considered fourth or fifth “tier” thrash. Five minutes after completing the album, no one will even remember the distinction between songs. Each track blurs together into one, twenty-eight minute long exercise in dullness. The short length turns out to be the albums only salvation. Had this effort lasted ten minutes longer, the score would be even lower.

Not much can be said for the band’s performance on the album. All instruments can be described as “average.” There is nothing wrong with the performance, but nothing stands out either. It can be said that the guitar tone is fitting for the musical style, but this only serves to pad the ill effect of the album as a whole. In terms of vocal work, Andy Torres is on the lower end of the spectrum. He isn’t completely horrible, but there are hundreds of better thrash vocalists. The approximate equivalent to the vocals of Merciless Death, might be a poor man’s version of Funeral Nation.

If Merciless Death is considered a leader in the new thrash movement, than thrash metal should be left to die. Purchase this album only if you’re a hardcore thrash collector, and do it cheap.

Opinions are like assholes - 89%

Felix 1666, April 6th, 2016
Written based on this version: 2008, CD, Heavy Artillery Records

I thought that Merciless Death died a silent death after their second album, but now I have seen that a new full-length has been released; a good reason to rediscover "Realm of Terror".

The boisterous protagonists make no bones about the fact that they have a strong affinity for the classic form of thrash metal. The promising intro is ominously growing and leads directly to the title track. Lo and behold, Merciless Death do not hesitate to demonstrate their anger. While achieving a very high degree of pressure, the song runs faster than the speed of light. The level of energy leaves no wishes open and the authentic attitude of the guys emphasises the old-school feeling. But the most outstanding feature is the high velocity of this fanatic opener. Historically interested thrash fans might say that it is nothing but a lame cliché to start the album with the fastest track. Perhaps they like to explain us the song arrangement of albums like "Ride the Lightning" or "Master of Puppets". But, firstly, a high velocity thrash infusion is always a good thing, and, secondly, Merciless Death don't even think about to slow down the tempo during the further tracks. "Tombs of the Dead", for example, appears as another explosion of high speed thrash. Thus, the title track is rather the blue print for the following pieces than an unusually swift number. In light of this speed orgy, it comes as no surprise that the album clocks in after 28 minutes.

Anyway, Merciless Death have more aces up their sleeves. The power of their music is not only created by the velocity. It goes without saying that the mind-blowing riffs are of great relevance, too. Formations like Exodus, Dark Angel or, of course, Slayer, belong to the idols of the musicians and therefore it is only logical that they present edgy riffs and violent leads in abundance. The guitar is gnawing and sawing constantly and the vehement production enables it to show its full force. No doubt, to achieve an attacking guitar work has stood in the foreground of the recording sessions. The six strings dominate the sound, but their regency is not at the expense of the other instruments or the vocals. "Realm of Terror" storms the barricades with a very suitable, aggressive sound. This becomes particularly evident at the beginning of "The Gate". Its excellent riff calls for war and makes us forget the only mediocre number, "Fall to the Pentagram", a calm and rather senseless keyboard sound collage with crude vocals at the end. The vibrancy of this riff leaves the listener no opportunity to escape, but that's no problem, because every thrash metal maniac will highly enjoy this old-school massacre.

Of course, everybody is free to call these guys stubborn, intransigent or old-fashioned. It doesn't matter. We all know that opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. For those of you who like pure thrash without frills, the fittingly titled "Realm of Terror" guarantees half an our of sonic wellness. Don't expect nice harmonies, any kind of fun or a lenient mentality. Just read the words of the band in the booklet ("This album is dedicated to all the people who said ... that this music is dead, may you rot in hell eternally"), see their Venom, Onslaught and Mercyful Fate shirts and you will suspect that the guys do not know any kind of fickleness. Even notorious doubters will know that they are absolutely right as soon as ferocious highlights like "Death Warriors" break loose.

Thrash as FUCK - 91%

SetAbominae6, May 19th, 2012

Merciless Death have always been my favorite of the "thrash metal resurgence." The rawest sound - a guitar tone that instinctively reminds me of Kerry King, but with a bit of Sifringer and Meyer thrown in; the most audible bass - with deep, abysmal tones that [unlike most bands today] are actually audible [what a concept!!] Crushing, infernal riffs that instantly make you want to headbang, and drum slams that will literally knock your stereo speakers off the shelves from how much power they possess.

Sound "solid" to you?

Their first LP "Evil In The Night" wasn't exactly my style, but this is more like it. A dark, death/thrash sound in the vein of Morbid Saint, Ghoul, Exumer, Demolition Hammer and Razor. The sound produced on "Realm of Terror" can literally be described in three words: Heavy. As. Fuck. With emphasis on the "fuck". Like old school thrash metal? You'll love this shit. The guitars are amazingly mastered with the ol' "thrash metal bite" of the 80's, combined with a crushing bass sound and percussion that will kick your ass. Not to mention it's not lossy at all - the sound is clear as the night sky.

However, with a sound like this, songs tend to meld together quickly. Standout tracks are "Tormented Fate," which happens to be my favorite track, being the most evil and tormenting [heh] of all. Andy does a great job with his vocals in my opinion, and they fit especially well on this song [more on this in a bit]. "Tombs of the Dead", which is your hairy-ass-balls-out-thrash-as-fuck song. This will please any Kreator fan. "Death Warriors" reminds me a lot of Destruction, but that's probably only because of how the vocalist sounds. Its almost as if he tried to sound like Schmier, and say "Dess" instead of "Death". Another great song is "The Gate," the reverb the guys used on this song makes it sound so haunting and evil. "Summoning of the Ancient Ones" is your classic tribute to H.P. Lovecraft and the Elder Gods/Ancient Ones, and Merciless Death does a great job of emulating the sanity-draining deities. They really tried hard to emulate the classic Dark Angel-influenced thrash sound, and I think they did exceptionally well. The creepiest part of the album? The bridge of "Tormented Fate" -

"His is the place called Hell
NONE SHALL ESCAPE
Morbid and sinful souls of Hell
Your evil master awaits
His presence is felt by the timely death
Of the Lord's saints who died at the gates"

The only part that I say could be executed better are the vocals. I think they work well, especially with this extreme genre of music, but some people I know will instantly hate this band because of how annoying the vocals of Andy Torres can be. They will grow on you if you truly love thrash, for your love of the riff will overpower your hate of the vocals, and soon they will meld together into a love of the band. Didn't it happen when you listened to "Eternal Nightmare" ?

Pick this shit up ASAP. No one knows the story on Merciless Death at this time, but they need our support. In January/February of 2012 they posted an article on Facebook saying they were breaking up; but it seems they aren't as the status on this website is "On Hold". Go buy this shit. Some say thrash will never die... but if you don't support the good bands, it will.

91/100

These Guys May Just Kick Our Asses Yet - 71%

DawnoftheShred, April 6th, 2009

In the event that you’ve been living under a rock for the past three or four years, you might not have noticed the massive resurgence of thrash metal that has been both a blessing and a curse to those of us that have sorely missed the genre’s classic sound. It’s a blessing because it’s fucking thrash metal, man, and to hate the idea of new bands playing it makes you no friend of mine. However it’s a curse too, as most of the new bands are painfully uninspired: the very thing that brought the style to the verge of death by the early 90’s. Few bands are guiltier of this than Merciless Death, one of the frontrunners out of the LA scene. Their debut is unvaried, underwhelming, and clocks well under the half-hour mark. It’s also full of timing slips, annoying imitation Steve Souza vocals, unmemorable atonal guitar solos, and the one-dimensional drumming of Cesar Torres.

However Evil in the Night was just their debut and, as with the many 80’s thrash bands they take their inspiration from, their best material might not begin to appear until a few albums down the road. Certainly you can’t judge a band based solely on their debut, can you? Well with the arrival of their sophomore effort, Realm of Terror, we can mold a better opinion on the band as a whole and it’s relatively clear: Merciless Death are a long ways from being a great thrash act, but they’re steadily improving their form.

Compositionally, the songs on Realm of Terror take after their older siblings from Evil in the Night: dark, fast, single-minded retro-thrashers trying their damnedest to resemble the works of Slayer, Vio-lence, Sodom, Kreator, etc. They are more convincing than the tracks from the last album, partly due to the production (more on this in a minute) and partly due to a just plain darker focus. Fast, evil riffs are prevalent (“The Gate”), coupled with lyrics, vocals, and solos of an equally evil nature. This is great on the surface, but as the seasoned thrasher will note, there’s very little in the way of original or exemplary material. Just as on their previous album, Merciless Death rip through their songs as quickly as possible (average song length is between three and three and a half minutes) with a flurry of hookless, tremolo-picked riffs that go in one ear and right out the other. The riffs are usually plain, the transitions between riffs are predictable, the variety is stifling (for most songs, since they rarely utilize tempos slower than a double-time pace), and everything just sounds like you’ve heard it all before.

And in at least one case, you have. The first riff from the song “Evil Darkness” (a good example of the band’s song titles being just as laughably generic as the songs themselves) is virtually identical to the verse riff from Exodus’ “Pirahna.” Now it’s one thing if they’d ripped off one of their more obscure influences (Blessed Death, Violent Force), but when people already think your band sounds like Exodus (Andy Torres’ vocals, particularly), it’s probably not a good idea to ape one of their most well-known songs.

So once again, the majority of the tracks run together because of how similar they sound, with the main exception being “Death Warriors” since it’s the only song that’s mostly mid-paced. However there are a few occasions other than “Death Warriors” where the band does mix it up, namely the pair of segues. “The Abyss” is the album opener and one of the few tracks to feature catchy riffs (and a clean melody, virtually unheard of from this band). The other one, “Fall to the Pentagram,” is an atmospheric departure that leads perfectly into “The Gate,” reminding the listener of those kind of tracks Morbid Angel does but with an unnecessarily silly spoken thing. More ideas like these should be utilized by the band, as these are among my favorite tracks on the album, if only because I can remember what these sound like upon album’s end. It’s really hard to believe that the album is, like its predecessor, less than thirty minutes in length and it’s STILL a challenge to recall what any of its actual songs sound like.

But now for the production on the album. Like the songs themselves, it is both better and worse. On the one hand, everything is louder and somewhat better recorded. The bass is audible (though it still strictly follows the guitar rhythm), the guitars are more devastating, and Andy Torres’ vocals are lower and more brutal and much less Steve Souza-esque. However the loudness is artificial (the complaint you usually hear about albums like Metallica’s Death Magnetic, among others), often making it difficult to hear what’s going on with the instruments and making the vocals sound like a low smeary mess. Not being able to hear the vocals is actually a blessing in disguise, as the lyrics are about as innovative as anything else on here (despite no songs with “slaughter” in the title, that’s still the general theme here, random violence and Satan repeated ad nauseam. However, bonus points to “Cult of Doom” for being about Conan the Barbarian). Dan Holder’s guitar solos are still splatters of atonal shredding, with occasional moments of clarity. Finally the drums are loud and sloppy. Despite how it might appear upon first listening to the album, Cesar Torres is pretty damn weak for a thrash drummer. There’s plenty of spots where things sound off-time and his right-hand technique isn’t developed enough for the speeds that MD play at. In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that the band might even be faster if it wasn’t for him. Listen to the intro to “The Gate,” noticing how that awesome fucking riff slows down when the drums come in. I can’t say for sure, but it seems pretty obvious that Cesar could not maintain a beat at that tempo. A shame, because that song would rule even more at that breakneck pace.

Overall, Realm of Terror is better (more variety) and worse (the production) than their debut, but mostly better, leading me to believe that after a few more years of refining their technique and perhaps operating with a different drummer, Merciless Death will finally live up to all of the hype they’re undeservingly getting today. We can only hope so.

Highlights: “Death Warriors,” “The Gate,” “Cult of Doom”