Beyond the Gates

Seven Churches is by and far superior to Beyond the Gates. Apart from just the fact that it created death metal, the band were spot on musicians and they had great production to go with it. Beyond the Gates somewhat tames the raging hell of Seven Churches by adding more comprehensible riffs and somewhat sophisticated ideas (especially in terms of structure), but keeps that beating heart of death metal.

All the elements of Seven Churches are back on here. Jeff still sounds as demonic as ever, the guitars rage, and Mike Sus does his usual martial snare rolls in more than a few places. Where they've advanced is mainly in a epic and expansive feel of the songs, particularly on the first side. Whereas Seven Churches sounded like being battered in close quarters, here you are getting attacked on the open plains of Hades. "Tribulation" is the best example of this "new" Possessed sound where the band jostles through a number of tempos and riffing styles, all of which are abrasive enough to leave you with whiplash and roadrash. Just listen to how the raging verse riffs shift into that slithery chorus, before the cascade of solos in the midsection. If memory serves me correct, Larry Lalonde had some connection to Joe Satriani, and those solos are beautifully composed over those sections. It's probably these logical structures and varied songwriting that give Possessed the accusations of selling out to thrash, and they appear in nearly all of the songs. What they lack in the disorienting chaos of Seven Churches they make up for with precision and craft. The first side of the album is equally as good as Seven Churches in terms of quality, and the second half is only a very slight downgrade.

The two major left turns on this are the clean intro and the midpaced "Phantasm" and title track. The clean intro works much the same way that the "Tubular Bells" intro to "The Exorcist", but here it feels like you're looking out onto this field of Hell with all its sinister and evil fires, before "The Heretic" kicks you squarely in the balls. Those thrash riffs on "Phantasm" may have their roots in the Bay Area, but only Slayer have ever come this close to sounding demonic. And the way that Jeff draws out some of the lines ("eyes...which mesmerise") sounds super evil. Speaking of thrash, the other Lalonde penned piece, "Seance" opens with a this strange, spiral riff that comes back among battering waves of guitars. The title track stays mostly mid paced and features a bunch of those off-kilter Possessed riffs that make you feel uneasy and are probably a bitch to play on guitar--still very effective at creating a sinister atmosphere.

Possessed has some of the cheesiest lyrics, sadly, and Beyond the Gates sometimes comes across as absolute cornbread. When they can avoid rhyme schemes they turn out a hell of a lot better, but how many times can you rhyme "hell" with "tell?" Oh well. Not that Seven Churches did that much better, and it's a relatively minor complaint when you notice a pretty good amount of "big" words as well.

When comparing the first two Possessed albums you can draw similar comparisons to Metallica's Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets--both albums are great, but Beyond the Gates and Master of Puppets are comparatively more sophisticated and less chaotic or dangerous than the previous. Where Beyond the Gates fails to match its predecessor is in the production. Carl Canedy, mostly known for his work with Anthrax, most likely did the mix, which sounds muddy and somewhat buries the drums under layer upon layer of reverb drenched guitars--even that doesn't kill the power of Beyond the Gates. Later versions make the guitars a little clearer, but the drums continue to sound weak to me.

Regardless of the criticism I may throw at the production and cheesy lyrics, Beyond the Gates is an absolute rager of an album, worthy in every way of its predecessor.

Possessed-the proclaimed inventors of the death metal genre had solidified their place in metal history with “Seven Churches”. Whether or not Possessed were solely responsible for death metal: partially responsible, or not at all is beside the point. What can be said without question, is the band made a mark that is still felt today. It was only a matter of time before the band would take its second plunge into the firestorm of critics. Enter-Beyond the Gates.

What must be understood about this album is that it is not an attempt to recreate “Seven Churches”. The band had taken a separate musical direction into the realm of more traditional thrash. While hints of the band’s style can still be found, Beyond the Gates is not meant to sound like “Seven Churches.” If a person is judging Beyond the Gates by the same standards as its predecessor, they will likely end up feeling disappointed, or betrayed. Instead, this album is to be compared to the likes of Exodus or Slayer. Truthfully, it stacks up quite well, though it does not reach the classic level of “Bonded by Blood” or “Reign in Blood.”

Possessed took a step up in the vocal department with Beyond the Gates. Jeff is much more controlled-a methodical approach that adds menace, where previously only chaotic evil was present. Likewise, the lyrics can actually be understood. Sometimes this is a bad thing, for some of the content is pedestrian, or downright funny (“in love with Satan”). Other times, the listener can actually sing along and appreciate the rebellious lyrical content. And this is very important-the ability to sing along.

Why? Possessed have not lost the ability for underlying melody. Their previous album made such an impact, partly because of the melodic overtones. Beyond the Gates follows the pattern, though slightly less efficiently. A gentle intro gives rise to “The Heretic,” a straightforward thrasher, with blistering riffs. It become obvious that Possessed has changed, but the catchy chorus makes clear that the band still has a melodic approach that a majority of thrash metal musicians lack.

Though different than “Seven Churches,” the same, basic concept remains on this album-aggression through melody. From “Tribulation” to “No Will to Live,” Possessed never lost the important skill. “Phantasm” is downright groovy in the beginning, followed by a hook-laden display of violent glee. Many bands can play heavy-many bands can play in a melodic fashion; however, very few bands can do both effectively.

It also should be noted that Possessed’s new style proves more flattering to Mike Sus. On “Seven Churches,” Sus always seemed on the edge of being outclassed by the music he was playing. With a greater variety of tempos, and some experimental drum patterns, Mike has found new life on Beyond the Gates. It is possible he simply improved as a drummer; but whatever the case may be, the drumming on this album fits better with Mike’s skill level. LaLonde remains the better of the two guitarists on the level of technical soloing, though Torrao wrote most of the riffs-all good riffs at that. The bass is again hard to distinguish, but Jeff’s vocals are top notch for the style of music.

One factor that clearly went downhill from the previous effort is the production. What a shame it is this album was produced so poorly, especially when you consider how much of the aggression was stifled by the muddy sound quality. Had this album been better produced, it is possible more people would have appreciated the new musical direction of the band. History cannot be altered; however, thus we can only appreciate the album for what it is-a melody infused thrash metal onslaught, that proved different than its predecessor, but nearly as good.

It’s not that it went from thrash to death, its that it’s not very good. Possessed a legendary band? No. Seven Churches is a legendary album no question, but this simply reveals Possessed to have only enough spark for one album (and to be fair, one EP). Those do not great bands make. I do feel awful for the horrible series of events all the other members went through in 1989, but that doesn't change this album from suffering the sophomore slump

The biggest problem with this album is that a lot of the songs are just really under-developed. Like Seven Churches, as great as it was, didn't perform to the commercial expectations of Combat Records so Possessed were rushed to the studio for a follow-up or to strike while the iron is hot. Lyrically, I will give the band credit for sticking to themes and not becoming too conventional, but in metal, extreme metal especially, the music matters first and foremost. The thing is though, that's the story with just about every band. Your whole life to write the first album, only 2 weeks to write the second album. But that was just the old way that bands did things back then, and the great ones, they flourished under those conditions, and would go onto make legendary releases under that kind of pressure. But Possessed? Not so much.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with switching from one style of metal to another, going from death metal, -a brand, bright new sub-genre- to thrash, which by 1986 was reaching critical mass, made the band look like followers instead of leaders. Rather than keep up with the style that threw middle fingers up to thrash and challenged them, they chose to follow the trend of thrash. It actually wouldn't shock me to learn that Combat records pressured them into making a thrash record, going with the times, rather than being ahead of the times. Another problem is even as a thrash record this doesn't doesn't stand up on its own, let alone take on the giants that came out this year like Reign In Blood, Pleasure To Kill, Peace Sells, etc. etc. When a German thrash with seemingly no ties to death metal whatsoever sounds more death metal than you while still managing to be thrash, that's a problem.

Speaking of sterilizing, there's the matter of the production and guitar tones as well. Say what you will about Rick Rubin's removal of Slayer's reverb on Reign In Blood, but that thing sounded brutal. It made you want to hear Crionics, Necrophiliac, Die By The Sword, Chemical Warfare etc. recorded with that production. Beyond The Gates' production takes you from the torture pit of the seventh layer of hell to merely the gallows pole. The sound would have been fine for say....Destruction's Eternal Devastation (maybe even preferred in that case) but coming hot off Seven Churches, they just sonically lose ground.

The weak songwriting is apparent in songs like the title track and the frustratingly repetitive March To Die. There is such a thing as lame thrash riffs, and these two songs are full of them. The latter in particular just seems to ride that below average riff the entire song with little difference between the verse and chorus. Not to mention that chorus is extremely clunky to begin with. Four "March To Dies" with five seconds of that average riff awkwardly spacing it out. Not to mention the phrase "march to die" is incredibly dumb (not to mention counter-intuitive to Satan's battle tactics). There's nothing worse than a stupidly phrased chorus repeated ad nauseam (see also: Dio's Sunset Superman). Eventually your casual listener starts to wonder "why the hell am I singing this?"

The album has a couple of decent moments. Tribulation was better than I remembered it, and No Will To Live was a solid epic. But if these were on Seven Churches, they would still fall second place to true classics like Fallen Angel and Holy Hell. Opener The Heretic is also enjoyable and properly sets the tone for what's to come, for better or worse. It's an average thrash album for 1986. Unfortunately, 1986 was NOT the year to be an average thrash band, satanic or otherwise. What's worse, in order to get the improved Eyes of Horror EP, you'll probably have to buy this. See if you can get it used.

Recommended tracks:
No Will To Live

In terms of extreme metal, "Seven Churches" is one of the few indisputable cult classics. Just have a look at the outstanding average rating for this album on a website called Metal Archives. (I guess, you know this page...) The here described successor failed to achieve a comparable status. If one looks for the reasons, the answer is easy. Producer Carl Canedy was obviously deaf. Aggravating this situation, everybody who was involved in the recording also seemed to suffer from a hearing damage. The mix was nothing else but a violation of the song material. Even attributes such as dull, muddy, powerless and dilettante describe the so-called production only in an insufficient way. It´s just completely incomprehensible, why nobody noticed this sound disaster during the recording process. And the horror goes on. Thousands of more or less well produced albums have been remastered in the past. But no one dared to give this full-length a second chance to reveal its full power. It´s a shame. Therefore, sound fetishists should ignore my rating and stay away from this record.

The tracks themselves were beyond doubt. Let me remind you that well-known bands like Marduk or tradition-conscious newcomers such as Hellbringer have covered songs of this album while neglecting the fantastic material of "Seven Churches". In view of the here presented collection of outstanding pieces, these bands took a comprehensible decision. Possessed once again had done everything right. The new song material was slightly more heterogeneous than that of the debut. But this was a natural development. In terms of quality, explosive bombs such as the fast-paced "March to Die" with its very intensive instrumental part after the first chorus or the sinister "The Beasts of the Apocalypse" were worthy successors of the debut´s highlights. Due to their wrathful guitar lines, they followed more or less the direction of "Seven Churches". What was new was that "No Will to Live" appeared as an epic thrasher, while the dark "Phantasm" had a trance-like aura. It taught us that Possessed were also able to perform a leisurely paced tune. Instead of setting the focus exclusively on aggression, the band also had an eye on creating a gloomy atmosphere. Apart from this broader range, each and every band member delivered a formidable performance. Since the release of the debut, we knew that they were technically competent. Nevertheless, the drum fills of Mark Sus at "The Heretic" were surprisingly impressive. The same went for the excellent guitar solos.

Jeff Beccera´s demonic voice made the classification of the band´s style difficult. From today´s perspective, you will identify elements of death, thrash and black metal. But do not let us waste time with that kind of pigeonhole thinking. You can enjoy highlights like "Tribulation" everywhere and anytime without taking care of their correct categorization. And one thing is certain, the cleverly elaborated songs did not lack of aggression and destructiveness, freshness and enthusiasm. Of course, this statement is subject to the proviso of the catastrophic recording quality. But due to the fact that there was no alternative, I got used to Carl Canedy´s foggy anti-sound throughout the years. However, the better is the enemy of the good. Based on this assumption, "Beyond the Gates" was fighting a losing battle against its almighty predecessor. But despite all adversities, what is crucial in this context is that this second full-length also left its mark while impressing with the fantastic compositions. If you want to feel the magic of Possessed´s early works, you have to know more than just their debut.

When a band's first LP is a record like Seven Churches, it will have a lot to live up to with a second LP. Possessed will always be known for Seven Churches first and foremost. It was a record that was raw and savage. This was a band that set the bar high with its first record. Most would say the band missed the mark with its second.

I must disagree. Unfortunately, Beyond the Gates seems to be mostly known for two things: a weak production and the rather elaborate sleeve design. That is generally all anybody mentions in an article about Possessed, which is selling this record short.

It seems to me that with the second record, Possessed was trying to be more mature perhaps, maybe even a bit more accessible. As such, a production like the raw, abrasive guitars of Seven Churches and Jeff's unique vocal style would not work all that well.

On Beyond the Gates, it seems the band wanted a cleaner guitar sound and more melodic vocals. One thing to remember is that a lot of metal during this time was not produced particularly well, mainly because I don't think anybody really knew how to record this kind of music, opting for a trial-and-error approach. Sometimes this worked to the band's advantage (early Venom and Bathory for example), but sometimes it didn't have the right intensity and if there is a real problem with the production of Beyond the Gates, this would be it. The guitars are not as aggressive as they were on Seven Churches and perhaps that takes something away from the final product, but after so many years of listening to this record, I can honestly say that it doesn't bother me. There are a few albums with productions so horrible that they are ruined, but I would say this is not one of them. Given time, I think the sound of this one grows on the listener and the songs on this one certainly warrant multiple listens.

I will say that the songs this time around aren't as consistent as Seven Churches, perhaps, but there's not a song on here that I think is bad. It all kicks off with the intro instrumental that goes straight into "The Heretic", being reminiscent of the first track off Seven Churches, "The Exorcist". The songs don't sound alike, just the instrumental flowing into the first proper song. "The Heretic" is every bit as memorable as anything on Seven Churches. It's aggressive and pretty fast and I find it sticks in my mind after listening to the record. Continuing on with "Tribulation", the album keeps hitting hard. At the same time, this album shows the band trying to have more layers to the songs, sometimes adopting a more straight-up thrash vibe and at other times going a bit more in the early death metal sound of Seven Churches.

The absolute high point for me on this one would have to be "No Will to Live". Jeff's more melodic vocal approach on Beyond the Gates works particularly well on this track, adding to mood of the song. It's pretty long by Possessed standards, but it doesn't feel like it and that, to me at least, is a sign of a great song. Just as Mercyful Fate's "Satan's Fall" doesn't feel like a 12-minute song, "No Will to Live" feels like it is half the length it actually is.

The last few songs on the album hit in fairly rapid succession, ending in another instrumental, "Dog Fight". These are not the most memorable songs on the album, but they work quite well as they are. If the band had stretched these out to be longer, they would have dragged the album down at the end. Instead, Possessed opted for a more "get in and get out" approach for the ending. These songs are not boring or uninspired, but they didn't need to be any longer they are on the record.

Put simply, if all you know of Possessed is Seven Churches, you should give Beyond the Gates a try. Keep in mind that if the band kept trying to make Seven Churches over and over, it would have been both boring and waste of talent. Remember this is not Seven Churches, but Beyond the Gates. If all what you want is more Seven Churches, this one won't really fit the bill that well, but if you want to see where the band went after Seven Churches, I think you may be able to appreciate the excellence of this record that is so frequently overlooked.

You know what? When I listen to “Beyond the Gates” by Possessed I keep telling myself that I like the album, but I always find one main problem with it – it just isn’t as good as “Seven Churches”. Whatever Possessed have done after their debut album, whatever they recorded, my reaction is always the same; none of their future recordings managed to surpass the excellence of the debut LP. Pity, but that’s how I feel about it. It actually is something I call “debut LP syndrome” and it’s something I think many bands from the '80s or '90s have suffered for, especially thrash metal bands, as quite many of them, after a relentless and merciless debut, went into more commercial and friendly stuff. I guess you know the story. Band X debuted with a savage, raw, and aggressive album, then they just went into softer and more easily listenable stuff with nicer vocals, (too) clean production, etc. I’m not even going to mention any names as there’s no point, besides in this review I meant to write about Possessed.

So okay, “Beyond the Gates” is not a bad album and I do enjoy listening to it and surely I won’t say it is not aggressive enough or it is too commercial, as definitely they didn’t start to play like Metallica, for instance. But when I compare “Beyond the Gates” to their legendary debut “Seven Churches”, I miss two things: the (Satanic) atmosphere and that brutality of “Seven Churches” that put out the fundamentals for the death metal genre. When comparing both albums, one can clearly say that “Beyond the Gates” is just a pure thrash metal album basically deprived of any death metal influences. At that time (1986), there was no “Scream Bloody Gore” yet (only Mantas demos, etc), but thrash metal was really enjoying its most successful time, so I can see why Possessed went into that direction more instead of trying to brutalize their music and make it even darker and more vicious than “Seven Churches”.

Already that annoying intro from “Beyond the Gates” will tell you that it is not exactly the same band anymore. Just listen to the creepy, Satanic, and sinister intro for “Exorcist” and then this happy and joyful, completely out of place intro for “Beyond the Gates". That can already say a lot and you know straight away that this won’t exactly be the same kind of album like the previous LP, and atmosphere-wise you can expect something just more… hmm, easily listenable? That feeling may not go really hand in hand with the actual lyrics, which are still pretty Satanic and full of dark themes of horror. Just read the “Tribulation” text with such sentence as “Tribulation, in love with Satan. Desecration, come to Salem…” or in “Beyond the Gates”: “Lucifer, hear me, I pray to the altar…I hear the sounds of insanity, Master, I drink the unholy water…”. But musically that atmosphere is not there anymore.

One can still say that “Beyond the Gates” is a good classic thrash metal record. Sure, I agree, but for me, even if it is solid and good LP, it still lacks a bit of truly killer songwriting and fantastic, memorable songs, as unfortunately this album hasn’t got its own “Black Magic”, “Evil Has No Boundaries“, “Flag of Hate”, or “Merciless Death". Of course, there are some really good songs, but just not as memorable as those tracks which I mentioned or not as historical as “Death Metal”. There are some absolutely great riffs, like in “March to Die”, but that guitar tone the band achieved on the album sometimes makes them slightly less aggressive. Besides, I just have a feeling like the music is not straightforward enough; there are too many useless guitar solos and other showing off of the guitarists instead of just plain and simple thrash metal. They did manage maybe to get everything right in songs like “Seance”, but in some others I feel kinda bored, to be honest.

The vocals of Jeff Becerra are another thing that makes me think how the band has put some of their aggression away. The vocals on the debut were truly demonic, great, raspy, and vicious that came right from hell. On “Beyond the Gates”, Becerra kept his weird and a bit annoying tone, but somehow it really irritates me when he sounds like a suffering crow instead of just screaming his guts out with passion and energy. And in “The Beasts of the Apocalypse” he sometimes I think tried to sound like Lemmy from Motorhead, which is just unexpected. The problem starts when I hear quite mediocre, almost boring music and it is accompanied with some annoying vocal parts (take “Phantasm” as an example).

So I did moan a lot on “Beyond the Gates”, but at the same time I wrote a couple of times that I do like this album. How is this possible? Well, first of all it is Possessed, but to be honest, even if it isn’t as classy a thrash metal album as “Darkness Descends”, “Hell Awaits”, or “Kill 'em All”, and even if it isn’t just as good as “Seven Churches”, at the same time it is just good enough to give it a few spins a few times over the period of a decade. It’s one of those LPs that may not be blowing your mind out to the moon, but once you start to play it fuckin' loud, then you just enjoy it a lot anyway! This is the only real and effective way to listen to “Beyond the Gates”. Then it appears that even such more mediocre material can shred, and tracks such as “Tribulation”, “The Beasts of the Apocalypse”, “March to Die”, and “Seance” will make you bang your head until you feel a terrible neck ache.

It’s a pity that it isn’t darker and with more lethal material. More so, I hate that it contains that shitty intro and this completely useless closing song, “Dog Fight”. I have no idea what the purpose in adding them to the tracklist was? Anyway, if you’re interested, I must recommend you getting the vinyl version of this album (what else, ha?!) in the first pressing, as it just looks absolutely killer. This foldout cover is very, very effective.

Final rating: 70/100

I've often pondered why Possessed would never develop into the powerhouse popularity of their Californian peers Exodus, Slayer or Metallica through the 80s and beyond, but the answer might very well lie in their sophomore outing, Beyond the Gates. Don't get me wrong, I like this record quite a bit, but I can't help but feel that the band had toned their sound down ever so slightly, and much of the raw, ripping appeal of the debut is lost in translation. In 1986, albums like Reign in Blood or Darkness Descends were flirting with faster, more aggressive aesthetics while Master of Puppets was stealing the spotlight with its impeccable songwriting, so it was the wrong time to put on the breaks, and in the long term, it might have cost Becerra and company the race (even if they retain their cult icon status).

That said, Beyond the Gates is still worth hearing and probably owning, if you've got any predilection for occult or horror fueled death/thrash. It's no surprise that Possessed are considered one of the forebears of the 'death metal' genre. Not only did their debut have a song by that title, but Jeff's vocals were ghoulish, a massive inspiration for Florida luminaries like Chuck Schuldiner of Death. The guitars here are pretty straight thrash/speed metal though, with a bit of Slayer-like construction similar to Hell Awaits or Reign in Blood, and the ruddy, muddy tonal constitution that the lesser known Maryland band Indestroy would cop for their s/t debut the following year. Larry Lalonde is nowhere near as eclectic as he'd become for the bands Blind Illusion and Primus, but he and Mike Torrao deliver a firm barrage of dirty speed licks and knifing lead sequences which, while unmemorable on their own, thread a natural counterbalance against the hammering backdrop.

The vocals are not quite so grisly as Seven Churches, and the guitars never so belligerent and bloodied as on a "Burning in Hell" or "Satan's Curse", but it's nonetheless a consistent album which revels in its subject matter. The intro is beautiful, almost like an 80s horror b-movie theme before it cedes to the bludgeoning of "The Heretic", but "Tribulation" is the first real track of note with its faster paced guitars which had a similar momentum to what Metallica were doing at this time. This is even more the case with "March to Die", which charges straight into the great, mid-paced "Phantasm" with its solid verses and mystical, Eygptian breakdowns. Other killers include the bristling "No Will to Live", the writhing leads of "The Beasts of the Apocalypse", and the choppy, mudslinging brigade of "Restless Dead".

There are a few tracks that seem less interesting, like the sloppy "Beyond the Gates" itself or the chugging footnote "Dog Fight", but in general this is a highly satisfying experience with a lot of reverb on the vocals and guitars that place it straight into its mid-80s era. Personally, I'm a huge fan of that sound, but I can understand how some might be turned off that it exhibits less of the brash and repulsive hostility of its precursor. The lyrics are all fairly simplistic dissertations on the typical themes that were also being explored by Slayer, Dark Angel, Venom, and so forth, but they do the trick, and there weren't a hell of a lot of bands doing more than that in the period. Ultimately, Beyond the Gates doesn't earn the Gold medal for Possessed, and would easily be subjugated in any throwdown with Bonded by Blood, Ride the Lightning, Darkness Descends and so forth, but it's a reliable enough ride into Hell.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Usually when you hear someone talking about a band refining and streamlining their style for a new album, warning flags go up; clouds of crows augur SELLING OUT. However, in this case, it's actually quite respectable. Not the missing link between thrash and death that Seven Churches was, Beyond the Gates is like the cro-magnon finally standing fully upright, looking around, scratching his prominent forehead, and deciding he had more fun as a neanderthal after all. Some may view this regression in a negative light, but after all, sharks haven't evolved much in millions of years and they're still just as deadly as ever. Sometimes old models are best, and I find influence and proximity to a cutting edge decades old to be pretty sorry gauges of quality. It's confusing symptoms with causes, and if this album were released today and I the only one who heard it, it would still be just as good.

Influences aren't too identifiable, but some early Exodus headbanging sensibility and a healthy dose of morbidity courtesy of Slayer and Celtic Frost/Hellhammer can be heard in Possessed's sound here, as well as what I can only call a bit of a proto-black metal feel. Certainly not enough to merit a full-blown genre tag, but in the same ballpark as Sodom's In the Sign of Cruelty, maybe Venom, and at times comparisons to a sped-up early Samael could be made. Contributing to this is Jeff Becerra's decidedly more relaxed delivery when compared to Seven Churches. Here Becerra instead reminds me of a postmortem Paul Baloff giving a monotone delivery; rather than an all-out feral vocal assault, he goes for a laid-back, moodier approach. As he moans, groans, and grates his way through deliciously blasphemous odes to the Dark Lord, it becomes clear the result is much more charismatic.

The production here also deserves mention; the guitars are sharp and vicious, like a chainsaw of razorblades. Though such a tone can often turn out thin, they thankfully don't forgo the heaviness here. This allows the riffs to run the gamut (such as it is) from speedily frantic to slow and mosh-choppy without favoring one or the other too heavily. The only real drawback is that even with its short length, Beyond the Gates can grow a bit monotonous, but despite their simplicity Possessed usually do a good job of changing things up in a timely fashion. That doesn't just mean "yet another riff", as thrash so often does; for example, "Phantasm" begins right off the bat with a great thrash break, while in the title track a keyboard plays some eerie chords in the background, like from an evil carnival. Some quite evocative solos and leads also make a positive impression, for example towards the end of "Seance". Rather than brutalizing with a flurry of Slayer-style shredding and whammy-bar abuse, they often favor a more measured approach much as with the vocals, on "Seance" genuinely conjuring up images of the Satanic ritual. Can you tell if sweet Satan will rise from Hell? The lyrics are unusually good, too, just as good as the debut's; bleak, evil, unabashedly Satanic. Not just "BOO, SATAN!" granny-scaring crap, but actually pretty edifying, again more reminiscent of something to come out of black metal than thrash.

While not the violent bloodbath the debut was, the follow-up has a chilling quality all its own; the calm, matter-of-fact tone of the songs that rarely get much above mid-paced brings to mind the serial killer who, having finally been brought to justice, shows no remorse for his crimes, no sympathy for his victims or their families, no fear for his future fate, nothing but self-satisfaction and contentment with the evil he has wrought.

This is Possessed's second full-length album. Now, Seven Churches kicked so much ass that I knew Possessed would have trouble topping it. Well, did they? Let's check it out.


Now, the first thing you notice when you pop this album in, aside from the obvious slower part of The Heretic, is that a number of things have changed... But at the same time, they haven't... A little weird... Let me explain.


The first thing I noticed about the guitar is that it's not really Death Metal! It's very, very thrashy, melodic, even, in some parts. Heavier this time around, clearer and louder. Now that is a plus for me. Again, the solos of the album are perfectly placed, and not over-used to the point where you don't want to hear them anymore, but actually are well paced out that you want one, you need one, you know? And then when the time comes, outcomes the fucking air guitar, because the solos are awesome. There are parts where the album slows down a bit, and allows more variety, as well. Variation that is well used, but not over-used. It's a perfect fucking blend. It's great, truly an awesome album.


The bass for me has the same problems as it did with Seven Churches. It's not loud enough. Simple problem with a simple solution. A song where the bass stands out the most would have to be in the song "Seance". It's awesome, and it serves the best possible purpose: ripping the shit, and making the song sound as kick ass as possible. It's hard of hearing in some songs, but when it does show it's ugly mug, it's fuckin' awesome.


The drums on this album are the biggest turn around. There is a ton of variety and great use of all toms and cymbals alike. Again, it CAN get repetitive, but if you pick your battles, it's not nearly as monotonous as it CAN be played and heard out to be. There is one problem though... Remember how I said that they have changed, but at the same time, they haven't? Well here's the cake taker... The drums and vocals are too loud still... They drown out the guitar and the bass way too much. Now this is made better by the fact that the guitar and vocals are clearer and cleaner, but it still has an effect that I would rather it not have.


The vocals are, well, what can I say... Perfect. They are perfect. Except for the little problem above, they are fucking awesome. I can't say anything more about them. I've said all that could possibly be said.


Now, this album is awesome. I implore you, get this album and listen to it right now, whether you have or haven't heard it yet. Listen to it, now. It's incredible, and you won't be disappointed.

The second album after a masterpiece is always a difficult goal to achieve, especially when that masterpiece is called Seven Churches. After two years from that monstrous birth, Possessed are back with another full length and something has changed. The thrash metal component is preponderant with more thrash galloping guitars parts, like in “The Heretic”. The sound is clearer than in the past with less hellish atmospheres that branded their debut.

The vocals by Becerra are always evil as fuck and they didn’t change from Seven Churches. “Tribulation” is another classic with the good refrain, some excellent mid paced parts and superb solos, that this time are more melodic and speed metal oriented. The guitars sound is less death/black metal oriented, evolving into a quite pure thrash one. The technique by the members has improved a lot in the solos and in the rhythmic session. The main riff on “March To Die” has something technical thrash metal in the galloping rhythmic session.

Anyway, the fucking gloom atmosphere didn’t disappear at all, so we can find again riffs that can come easily out of Seven Churches with a different production, but always an evil one. If you want to check out clearly the guitars new thrash distortion, listen to the beginning of “Phantasm”. This song is mostly mid paced with riffs that reminded me early Exodus for the mid paced progression and the almost progressive soloing! The 7 minutes of intensity and violence of “No Will To Live” could easily turn pale anyone who found in Seven Churches some of the most violent songs ever.

The title track is remarkable for some strange sounds on the background and the truly twisted atmosphere. “The Beast Of Apocalypse” deserves a continue headbanging during its 3 minutes of primordial thrash/death. “Séance”, “Restless Dead” are two unbelievable vicious blows to the back of my head and the instrumental “Dog Fight” puts an end to this great album. As I said, it was so difficult for them after Seven Churches and even if this one is more thrash oriented, the group’s intensity and malevolence is always on the top and difficult to match.

Overall, an excellent follow up, mandatory for any death/thrash lover. This is a real bloodbath.

This is no Seven Churches. That is a basic fact, and is not meant as a knock against the album, as there are very few albums that are Seven Churches, or at least of comparable levels of quality, influence, and downright awesomeness.

This one does not have the influence, or quite as much compositional quality. However, it does have the downright awesomeness. This is not the seminal death-metal release that the one before it was; instead, this is pretty much a standard thrash LP. The previous was a hallmark for 1985, the year of Hell Awaits and Bonded by Blood. This one is a thrash LP for a year of oh-so-many thrash albums, where the genre started to splinter horribly - Kreator, Slayer, Dark Angel being the vanguard that exploded the genre further and further away from the Piranhas and the Chemical Warfares of the world... newer levels of brutality that echoed the previous Possessed, and also the works of Sepultura, Bathory, Hellhammer, Slaughter, and other extreme metal.

On the other end, thrash was starting to come up lame, as everyone and his grandmother decided that they too could write simple basher riffs and get away with it. I can't really think offhand of an also-ran thrash LP from '85, but I can think of plenty from '86... Cyclone, anyone? I won't even get into the bastardisation of the genre, and of metal as a whole, that arrived with Metallica - I'll just note that by 1986, thrash was done as an artform with three releases, and anything that came out during or after that year was at best a real fucking banger.

This one is a real FUCKING banger!! And thus, I will stop comparing it to its predecessor, and evaluate it as it is. A vicious, completely out-there guitar tone, reminiscent of the first Coroner demo at times, combined with extremely crisp and tight riffage... these guys have taken palm-muting to levels even Anthrax could only dream about, throwing together single-note midpaced mosh riffs to rival any other band out there for sheer headbangability.

Highlights... the Heretic starts with the little opener, and then goes into a riff-set that is fundamentally based on one five-note riff, with the other instrument providing the occasional expansion to this one theme. A simple and effective song. No Will to Live starts off as the fastest song, reminiscent most of Venom for sheer speed, but Slayer for tightness of riffage, before turning in the middle into an excellent top-speed "bang your head against the stage" single-note all-downstroke brutal onslaught. Seance contains a classic thrash middle break, as does Tribulation, which also has a very nifty solo. Possessed's solos are a bit cleaner on here than on the previous album, though both have that subtle melodic sensibility to them. It's more the tone that differentiates better between lead and rhythm, as opposed to the blurring of the two so prevalent on the previous LP. Becerra still sounds evil, though maybe a bit less overtly demonic, and returning a bit more to his Cronos roots. Phantasm has probably the most memorable intro riff here.

This album is overall more catchy than the first one, and certainly more easily accessible. Is this album to be framed on the wall as the be-all end-all of extreme music? Nope. But is it to be purchased and enjoyed repeatedly? FUCK YES. The only thing I can hold against this album is the shadow of its predecessor - you'd expect Possessed to not take such a step back, but even as they do, they are still within the second-ranks, right behind the big three extreme thrash LPs of the year, and far the fuck ahead of your average Living Death or whatnot.