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Minotaur > Power of Darkness > Reviews
Minotaur - Power of Darkness

Evil Has Its Extreme Stripped-Down Boundaries - 65%

bayern, November 1st, 2022

From the Creator… sorry, Kreator to the Minotaur… yep, a road not that often travelled, but one that seems pretty well paved here, as this album is a very faithful rendition of the Mille gang’s sophomore “Pleasure to Kill”, intentionally or not. To talk about blind emulation, though, would be unfair as the guys were already disturbing the peace in the German underground with their ferocious demos on which shades of proto-death were not that hard to detect.

However, on the album reviewed here the band have made more than just the casual nod at their colleagues from Essen’s pleasurable killing second outing, the final outcome almost as vicious and relentless, just give a single spin to the opener "Savage Aggressions" and run scared, also fully trusting the guys that they can indeed come up with some of the most justifiable song-titles this side of Venom. On the minus side, this cut sums up the remainder so well that it may become a bit redundant to listen to the whole piece in its entirety as this less than half-an-hour slab comes as one big gust of extreme aggression (hi again, Mille), pretty much from beginning to end, including in the screechy hysterical vocal department. There are a couple of moments where the listener may get a bit befuddled, like on the chaotic but stylish virulence stirred on "Fierce Fight", or on the loftier pirouettes on the short pulverizer “Incubus”… unfinished sketches those for something loftier to be realized in the future, cause right now we have bash, bash, and bash again, till proto-death ("Maggots in My Body") here and there, the tiny insufficient antidote provided at the very end, when the majority of the fandom have already perished, the meek heavy/power metal hymn "Fall of the Gods", a very unheralded change of heart, and by no means the most fitting one.

Yep, the epitaph amounts to a little more than a hill of beans, a miscalculated decision that diminishes the merits of this otherwise truly brutal debut. It’s one-dimensional, it sounds derivative even for the time of release, it doesn’t require abundant musical dexterity to execute… and yet it should make the tireless headbangers happy all over. It shouldn’t be very surprising the fact that the band never crawled out of the underground, if this was their main goal, to follow an already overground model, hoping to hit the spotlight in the same way…

alas, that never became a reality for them, although they quickly upped their ante on the following EP, sounding way more professional and restrained, largely to a positive impression. The split-up in the mid-90’s was inevitable, the groovy/aggro black hole swallowed many an old school metal practitioner back then; followed by a reunion stint in the new millennium. The sophomore was a pretty decent slab, frequently nodding towards the semi-polished raw barrage from here, but overall showing the band again well able to produce more sensible albeit still intense retro thrash. The “Beast of Nations” EP is another worthy endeavour, no change of direction whatsoever… it seems like the minotaur would survive all attempts on its life, including those made by pernicious mythological heroes.

Another great piece of German thrash - 90%

DesecratorJ, September 25th, 2017

The German band Minotaur has been around since 1983, but didn't release anything until 1986, which was the "The Oath of Blood" demo. The band played stuff in the same veins as Kreator or Protector and were more or less in the same scene as the other German bands of that time. Unfortunately, Minotaur got far less attention than their country mates, which caused their early material to be forgotten by most people today. It surely didn't help them to release their first album "Power of Darkness" only by 1988 as well as the lack of good label support, on which they probably got no promotion at all. However, these guys knew how to make the most brutal thrash metal of that time, and they proved it on this little piece of pure violence.

Here we have the "Power of Darkness" album, it's a really short album with only 27 minutes of play time and most tracks are only 2-3 minutes of length. This tells a bit how fast the band play on this record, there's a track called "Into the Temple" that act as an introduction for the album. The problem with this one is that most people will just skip it ahead and get to the actual meat of the record, which I also do myself. Following the intro track, now we get our ears blasted with some heavy shit, the first "real" song titled "Fierce Fight" shows basically what the album is all about. The speed and aggressivity just never stop, the whole record is a total onslaught from the beginning to the end, featuring insane drumming of blast beats and killer guitar riffs. The only moment of tranquility is the Prelude of the "Necromancer" track, which is an acoustic introduction. The vocal performance of Andi Richwien also really remind us of Mille from Kreator and fits perfectly in the style performed on the record, in my honest opinion.

With the shortness of the tracks, there are some serious catchy moment on them, especially on tracks such as "Incubus" which have the most catchy chorus to get stuck in your head. The most violent song of the album for me is definitely "Apocalyptic Trials" with its heavy and savage riffs balanced with the impressive drumming. One thing that I noticed on the album is some similarities in two songs, which are "Fall of the Gods" and "Maggots in My Body" There's a guitar riff nearly identical in both songs. Even if it's noticeable, it doesn't remove the authenticity of the tracks since they're quite different anyway. Of course, we have the "The Power of Darkness" track, the longest one with barely 4 minutes that have the very unique bass line riff that caught my attention at my very first listen. It proved me that the guys in Minotaur had a lot of creativity and they managed to produce something of great value. They didn't really innovate in the lyric department, but didn't follow the satanic imagery of the other bands in their career as well, more centered in the violence, death and darkness. The production work is also pretty good, in fact, I have no issue at all with it. This record ended up wit.h a good mix and sound, despite most tracks being available as a demo a year back in 1987.

Overall, this is a great unknown or hidden piece of the German thrash metal history, maybe not as incredible as Destruction or Sodom were, but still pretty good in their own way. They deserve more attention for sure, and should have more people to get to know them. I recommend this album to people that like the 80s old school thrash metal, but not just simple thrash metal, more like the most brutal shit that came out during that time.

Best tracks :

Apocalyptic Trials
Fierce Fight
Incubus
The Power of Darkness

Nevermind the bonus tracks, this album rules! - 90%

Werewolf, November 20th, 2010

*This album recently got reissued on I HATE Records ad that's the only version possible to find for a fair price nowadays anyway, so that's the version I'm reviewing.

A German Thrash band that got formed in 1983 and disappeared after some demos, some EP's and 1 album got released is not a rare case. Moreover - the LP in question got released as a full length in 1988, after bands like SODOM, DESTRUCTION, SEPULTURA and POSSESSED turned their backs to Satan, to concentrate on socially-aware songs. Nevertheless "Power Of Darkness" is a forgotten gem that deserves to be reprinted and available to the public again.

After a LAIBACH's vocalist-like voice finishes the intro speech - the song 'Fierce Fight' starts a merciless 80's blackened thrash attack that doesn't calm down until the album is over, with a sole and short exception of the acoustic guitar intro Prelude, which reminds of KREATOR's Choir Of The Damned. Unlike the intro voice - the vocalist sounds similar to Mille/KREATOR, perfectly fitting the atmosphere of an album that features songs like 'Incubus' and 'Necromancer', backed up by riffs that could fit one of the first 2 KREATOR's album, resembling METALLICA's debut stuff (e.g. the opening riff of Maggots In My body!) + savage solos to bang your heads for. Even the bass sounds very clearly (better than in many "professionally produced" classic LP's).

This album was originally released as a demo already in 1987, featuring 7 songs. The 1988 official full length version was expanded to 10 tracks. The current reissue on I Hate Records offers the same core, but this time with 4 bonus tracks, recorded in the same White Noise studio in 2009, 22 years later. I haven't heard MINOTAUR's comeback album yet, but these tracks show that MINOTAUR's musical direction hasn't changed. On the other hand - these songs don't sound as convincing as the album tracks, but more reminiscent of such stuff as the Colombian WITCHTRAP's cool yet worn out sounding "let's just sing about praising metal all the time!" tunes.

When all is said and done - this album is way more vital than the majority of nowadays young Thrash bands' albums and many other so-called once "cult" releases that didn't gain much success back in the day for the right reasons, so give it a try if you dare and don't forget to return to the opening track (or even skip the intro as well), in case that the bonus tracks sound like absolute filler stuff for your old thrasher ears!

Originally written for WWW.VOICESFROMTHEDARKSIDE.DE webzine

A pleasant surprise - 91%

DeathByTheSword, August 16th, 2008

I got to be honest with you, when I first got this album I was expecting a good thrash release but I wasn't counting on something great. Well, I was completely wrong, this album has all the makings of a great thrash release. The riffs, the aggressiveness, the raw production and the violent drums. This is truly one under looked classic.

This album kicks off with a bone chilling intro that sets the mood for the album, some may think this intro is a bit black metal-ish, well it's true this album has some black metal influences. Although not quite being blackened thrash you can hear some black metal riffs in there.

After the intro is over "Fierce Fight" starts to play, "Fierce" pretty much describes the whole song. This track summarizes the entire mood for the rest of the album, just raw, aggressive, brutal and unrelenting thrash.

"Incubus" continues this album streak of rawness also featuring what it seems like small tasteful breakdowns on the chorus. This track is a serious candidate for best track of the entire album and one of the best thrash songs I’ve heard recently.

"Maggots in my Body" and "Apocalyptic Trials" continue the album in its aggressive way "Apocalyptic Trials" being also one of my contenders for best track. By the beginning of "Prelude/Necromancer" there's what is, possibly, my favorite moment in the entire album. The thrashy and aggressive end of "Apocalyptic Trials" morphs into a melodic acoustic guitar riff which then turns again into good old thrash. And Minotaur achieve it with no cheesiness at all. This part just blew my mind and made me realize this album was indeed a classic.

Next comes the title track which demonstrates how a tasteful thrash breakdown is done. And they demonstrate it pretty damn well. Also a contender for best track, this is a big chunk of good catchy thrash.

"Planed Head”, although not a bad song, is what I consider the worst track from this album. It's the fastest track but doesn't really get quite the quality of music the other tracks in this album manage to achieve. It is still a very fast and brutal thrash song that is not by far filler.

The two final songs finish the album with a brutal touch that just makes you want the album to have just one more song.

On a final note I'd like to say that this album is a under looked classic. Period. And that all thrasher worth their salt should have this record in their collection.

Best tracks: "Fierce Fight", "Incubus", "Apocalyptic Trials", "Prelude/Necromancer" and "The Power Of Darkness".

It's hard to match this intensity. - 90%

BloodIronBeer, January 8th, 2007

Minotaur is a German thrash band. They play absolutely brutal, raw, gut-wrenching, uncompromising thrash, with a black metal undertone.

I don't know why this band is not more popular or recognized.

The guitars are a bit fuzzy, but oh-so wonderfully raw. The riffs seldom fail to make you bang your head. They go borderline black metal at times, and are sometimes even slightly similar to early death metal. The solo's are the blistering shred you'd expect from old school thrash.

The drummer isn't afraid to cross into switch-beats and blast beats. He's a tad sloppy, but the production is spot on, and considering the intensity generally perceived from metal of this caliber, minimal amounts of sloppiness are only a compliment to the music. This is the reason people hate triggered drums and drum machines - you can't get this sound and energy from a piece of fucking machinery. It's got that 80's tone to it, not overly sharp or high end sounds from the drums. The drummer plays with vigor enough to puncture the skins and smite all his cymbals. Love it.

The vocals are higher pitched, early fast-paced one-hundred-words-per-minute thrash yells, mixed with a touch of black metal snarl. The vocals are just wee bit too loud in the mix, but that's ultimately probably trifle.

Even the bass cuts through perfectly in the production, and comes out during fills. Making itself apparent during little moments of technicality, which are very well done. Such moments are very rare in this particular style, and hence greatly refreshing.

All songs flow well, and don't overstay their welcome - as there are some thrash bands that try to be epic, and fail.

Highlight tracks: Incubus, Apocalyptic Trials, Fierce Fight

Bad track: Planed Brain

Ultimately, this is blackened thrash done right. The only problem I see is that the production leads to melding the instruments together sometimes, but aside from that, all bands of this style could aim for that sound. Highly recommended for any fans of thrash, black or death metal.