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Torture > Storm Alert > Reviews
Torture - Storm Alert

Intros Alert - 62%

TheBurningOfSodom, August 10th, 2021
Written based on this version: 2006, CD, Escapi Music (Remastered)

Another one of those '80s supposed one-album wonders, Torture hailed from Texas, part of a scene that was concurrently giving birth to many other thrash soon-to-be cult acts (Rigor Mortis, Devastation, Gammacide... but also Watchtower), and as such, they plausibly didn't have the easiest of times emerging from the pack. Of course, surrendering without even trying to fight wasn't an option, so by the time their debut, and only LP, Storm Alert hit the shelves in 1989, the band had amassed three years of experience and chemistry, presenting an interesting work to the eye – not much for its enigmatic cover but, in a Hell Awaits sense, looking at the tracklist. They subsequently vanished with the advent of the '90s like many of their peers, but how does their lone offering fare?

Just making sure that this review will attract the right crowd, even if it's a point that was also made abundantly clear by both the previous reviewers: if you can't stand the modus operandi of beginning every album with an introduction, be it atmospheric or instrumental... oh boy will Storm Alert become your new kryptonite. I'm not kidding when I say that five songs out of eight have their own intros. Quite possibly one of the boldest moves ever made in a '80s thrash album, but I'm not really sure it made proselytes, and it's been for the better, I guess, since it kills any idea of momentum. For example, the acoustic segment opening 'Blood Portraits' is quite neat, but I just couldn't stop wondering if it was necessary, given that it's just the second song. And about 'Slay Ride'... well... I-I can't. Just listen for yourself, if the idea of a mid-tempo thrash song about Christmas, of all things, somehow intrigues you.

Okay so I don't want to look like I'm bashing them right from the start, 'cause every sucker for this era of metal will find Torture just as pleasing as he hoped for. Their most interesting feature, though, is how vocalist Tom Hicks shows a wide range of styles within the thrash realm and occasionally outside of it, lining himself with his proto-death peers, and he manages to be at least decent at every of them, but never outperforming his influences. Apparently, Hicks is also in charge of the lead guitar, yet he rarely makes such an impression there. Solos are scarce and short in relation to the songs' average playing time, when not absent altogether. There is hardly anything spectacular in the band as a whole, but when the tempo (and so the intensity) kicks in, they offer a credible, if more restrained, alternative to Signs of Life-era Devastation, or perhaps to the thrashiest and less hardcore-inspired moments found in Epidemic's The Truth of What Will Be.

Regrettably, it's never a good sign when most of the songs on here feel like they go on for more than they offer. Torture really had a soft spot for mid-tempo tracks, but at the same time they hit MUCH harder when they were at full speed. Such a pity they didn't acknowledge that in time for the LP release... anyway, 'Ignominious Slaughter' is one Hell of an opener, I can't understand why they didn't always shorten its refrain like they did on the last one, but apart from that it's the only instance where the absence of a solo isn't a big deal. 'Terror Kingdom' slays despite its massive length, and the Venom-esque 'Enter the Chamber' is enjoyable and luckily short, with its awesome, surprising bass solo marking one of the highest points of the album.

As they say though, all good things must come to an end, and the positives about Storm Alert end here. While it's true that I hated the misplaced 'Slay Ride' for pretty much everything aside its title pun, it actually isn't the worst track on the album. 'Blood Portraits' and especially the title-track lead the skippable tracks, both falling victims of Torture's commitment to pay homage to as many influences as they could, and stumbling several times in their attempts to find their own way. The latter easily takes the cake going from Metallica-esque clean sections and vocals, to stock Sodom mid-paced riffs and an uninspired chorus, all while Hicks decides to occasionally channel his best Blood Fire Death-era Quorthon impression. It's kind of a mess, and if you're coming here from their previous EP Terror Kingdom and were already unsure about whether Torture wanted to focus on a single sound or not, this song will definitely amplify your doubts.

The original mix was adequate, after all, yet the 2006 remaster is totally recommended, unless you're so kvlt to despise a clear, powerful sound. Despite the absence of an explicit indication on that regard, the vocals seem also re-recorded (I mean, either that or the accent on the word 'ignominious' has magically moved...), even if they remain just an iota low in the mix (i.e. on 'Slay Ride''s bridge). Unfortunately, the new songs are no big treat: the original instrumental 'Whips', given the scarce propensity for guitar solos displayed by the band, was already quite unnecessary, but this 'Whips Pt. 2' adds precisely nothing, and I really would have been happier if they combined both parts' better riffs and wrote lyrics matching its original title ('Whips of the Antichrist' sounds pretty cool). I was also legitimately expecting more from an 11-minute number, 'Dwell into Surreality', which instead sat more or less comfortably on the same pace throughout its entire duration, save for a neat bridge with clean guitars/keys around the 6:00 mark. Whoa, there's also a sick solo, way more technical than the rest and... oh wait, apparently that was an unlisted Michael Angelo Batio playing. Talk about surprises...

All things considered, finding an apt rating for Storm Alert turned out to be way harder than I expected. There are moments of brilliance, some deliciously old-school riffs and a powerful sound, yet a lot of time is still taken by painfully uninteresting stuff. Recommended only to '80s thrash die-hardest aficionados and completionists.

Slay ride into the terror kingdom!!! - 100%

cravingforvenom, March 24th, 2009

At the near end of the unmatchable 80s era, when bands were resorting to desperate measures trying to make good use of every possible dime they had and eventually releasing some of the shittiest albums ever heard, a few bands still managed to stand out of the crowd and Torture were arguably one among them. Hailing from Texas these thrashers never gave in to the friendlier groove style their fellow state friends Pantera adopted and who subsequently made a living out of. No groovy shit found in here, this is total thrash mayhem. It’s a pity this was released a little too late as it made not much of an impact as it could possibly have, had they done a little time travel a few years prior. Nevertheless the band’s reformed and the remastered version of this masterpiece called “Storm Alert” is already out in the stores and calls for immediate attention.

What makes this record special is the presence of a couple of factors. One would be the straightforward approach taken by the band and not opting for silly gimmicks and lousy themes that had become a staple of several bands of that era. The second factor is the band’s sensible usage of humor on a couple of tracks without going for exaggerated attempts and thus keeping the continuity and flow going. One comparison that comes to mind is perhaps Seattle based thrashers Coven, who were active around the same time and who’s debut followed a similar trend but with more leanings towards nasty humor. The music is fast but not overly sped up as Wehrmacht or Incubus. The speed is somewhat along the lines of Dark Angel and Sodom. The vocals on the other hand are vicious and harsh with only a few clean notes thrown in for the intros.

The track listing on the original LP is shorter and a little different from the 2005 re-release and I’ll be covering the ones on the former release. Most of these are lengthy pieces purely because of the usage of keyboards based intros that blend perfectly with the main onslaught. “Ignominious Slaughter” for instance starts off with an intro which sounds like its come right out of the soundtrack of the film “Omen” and then kicks off with a heavy riff which eventually gets faster and then pushes right into the maximum, phew!!!! The chorus sounds sick and demented. The follow up “Blood Portraits” has a surprising acoustic intro which then culminates into a massacre with heavy as hell riffs right out of Black Sabbath’s instruction manual.

Now come the two back to back maniacal mosh pit destroyers that are beyond description and can only be matched in intensity by Wargasm. The songwriting is excellent and the music is even better. The first one “Slay Ride” has that humor I referred to earlier and is not an all out thrasher as the other tracks and is more riff and solo driven with over the top vocals by Mr Tortured Hicks. “Terror Kingdom” is one of the tracks from the previously released EP of the same name. This one’s not a whole lot different except for the vocals which spurt more anger and venom. This is perhaps the fastest one around with a crazy thrash break in between to accommodate the chorus that screams heavy metal.

The title track “Storm Alert” starts off with clean vocals for a short period before a good little thrash riff comes that makes for the main riff of the entire song. There is also a hint of traditional bay area like catchiness present in here that can be heard upon careful listening. The next one called “Enter The Chamber” is more traditional than thrash, sounding almost like an early Metal Blade records signee. There is also a good display of bass soloing in the middle section. The penultimate “Whips” is total Destruction worship. Listen to that intro solo and you’ll be reminded of “Eternal Ban “ from Eternal Devastation. This one’s an all out instrumental and was probably meant as a little mark of respect to the Teutonic thrash masters. The final track doesn’t disappoint whatsoever and is the ideal finisher to the album albeit not compromising on the length.

Ever since the birth of thrash metal, a lot of quality albums have been churned out and the process still continues. Torture regardless of the fact that they’ve released only one album till date certainly deserve a more than a honorary mention on the list of some of the better obscure heavy metal bands and this effort speaks for itself. For all you old school thrash and death heads, get taken around for a nasty “Slay Ride” to the “Terror Kingdom” but be careful as there’s a “Storm Alert” news floating around and you might get ignominiously killed. This is what true cult is all about!!!!

P.S: The 2005 release has a better production and I'd highly recommend going for it unless your curiosity gets the better of you and forces you to go for the 1989 original instead.

A lavafall of pure molten metal - 90%

Xeogred, May 6th, 2008

It happens, sometimes you'll see an album on the archives here and just wonder "how the hell does this have no reviews for it?" Torture's Storm Alert is absolutely no different and I'm really shocked by this fact concerning this fine piece of metal. At least that isn't the case for their EP, which in itself is pretty deadly and top notch as well. Highly recommended along with this. For this album, I'll be going over the reissued version with the altered tracklisting and extra's.

Torture's previous EP was a fairly complicated release, not in the sense that it tried too hard to be something it couldn't, overly progressive, or anything like that. But in the case where it brought in tons of influences from traditional, power, thrash, extreme, whatever, and smashed them altogether flawlessly. The follow up here Storm Alert is basically a continuation of that awesome formula with a little more polish. For the most part it's definitely safe to call this thrash metal over everything else, but Torture certainly brings a lot to the table here and melds various styles together perfectly. It's just one hell of a chunk of metal. It might be something you could compare to Destructor's Maximum Destruction.

My favorite aspect to this release is hands down the production and the mix, sadly though I can't specifically say if there's any noticeable differences between this remaster and the original version but I'm assuming there's some changes. Regardless, for 1989 this mix is still pretty damn raw and dirty. E-X-E's Stricken By Might could be an excellent comparison except Torture's mix here is thicker and far tougher. It definitely contains that "evil" touch as well. The guitar tone here is utterly metal, it's so sharp and metallic it's beautiful. This really stands out with the melodies, leads, dual harmonies and all of that (a lot of these seem to echo away into the dark distance). Very reminiscent of these things off Jag Panzer's Ample Destruction, in terms of sound. Aside from the perfect guitars, the drums are very powerful and heavy while not overstepping anything else. The bass honestly feels a little lost in this thick explosion, but it does stand out a few times here and there. I can't really say much about the vocals though. I think it's guitarist Tom Hicks singing here, he's a gruff vocalist that wouldn't sound out of place in the death realm. He just sounds a little typical I guess but he definitely does have his moments on some tracks like the self-titled Storm Alert and whatnot. I liked the odd vocals off the EP a little more that seemed to sound far more demonic and "cool" with this weird dual layer effect that they had going there, but in the end the vocals on this one are still pretty aggressive and really don't bring the album down or anything.

Simply put if you want something aggressive, fast, dark, and with a lot to offer in terms of variety, Storm Alert is just that. There's a lot of awesome intro's here too, except for (ironically enough) the first track itself ... Intro. This keyboard / special effect driven one doesn't really work, but the acoustic intro's to several tracks like Blood Portraits and Storm Alert are absolutely incredible. I can't help but think of Tyrant's barbaric Too Late to Pray when I hear those intro's, the guitar tone, the atmosphere, it's insanely majestic and metal. A good chunk of the songs here are fairly long and constantly shifting in structure and it always works. The buildups are unforgettable: 03:16 - 03:40 on Ignonimous Slaughter, most of the later half of Dwell Into Surreality, 02:45 - 03:40 on Blood Portraits, etc. The childish cartoony intro for Slay Ride is hilarious, always bringing me a smile. When Terror Kingdom builds up towards the end the guitars at 06:05 - 06:10 will pierce any metal fans heart. Storm Alert is an easy highlight with its melodic focus and awesome chorus, then there's Enter The Chamber, topping things off with a nice bass solo in the middle and just being an overall catchy fast song. A simpler and shorter track that still kicks a lot of ass. Both of the Whips are crazy instrumentals that turn out to be pretty awesome, I think they should've been spaced apart throughout the tracklisting though. In final there is Deceiver which is just all out insanity, easily one of the most aggressive numbers on the whole thing. Overall I'll just repeat what I said above, this is one hell of a chunk of metal. If you want some dark thrash that incorporates elements from all kinds of styles, you'll love Storm Alert. Also, check out their EP.