Fear of Tomorrow

Haters gonna hate and people that like this band will do at 100%, that pretty much sums up the cover of the album reviewed here­. Artillery has always been some sort of an outsider from everything that was going on at the time. Hailing from Danemark, it comes with no surprise that this band was nearly one of its kind out there. Artillery formed back in 1982 and quite evolved intensively through the years, ending up playing very competent thrash metal with a great technical approach without being put in the bag of progressive acts. However, in their beginnings, it was basically just aggression, violence and darkness that was displayed in their music, much like a lot of similar bands in the mid 80s you may say. Indeed, their first album was released in 1985, right in the middle of the emergence of thrash metal as a recognized genre. Despite not being my favorite Artillery album, it definitely has elements that makes it a record worthy of being praised for what it is.

The "Fear of Tomorrow" album was even at that point unsurprisingly primitive to me at first listen. If you compare this record to let's say, the 1990 "By Inheritance" album, it's like the night and day difference in term of sound. Some might reject this primitive sonority, but for old school thrashers, this is surely not an issue to worry about, in fact, I personally prefer it this way. During its about 41 minutes of play time, "Fear of Tomorrow" has quite a bunch of goodies to offer. Kicking off with the track "Time Has Come", I will say that was definitely not a favorite of mine and doesn't really show off the brutality and the intensity of this whole album. Its fuck top structure that sounds like it's made from three different choruses with a solo in the middle of that didn't catch up my ears as much as the follow-up called "The Almighty". Now we are talking about a straightforward thrash metal track that doesn't fuck around with its killer main riff as well as those crushing harsh vocals from Flemming Rönsdorf.

One thing that I am sure about after many years is that I have two favorite tracks that have been timeless to me on this album. "Deeds of Darkness" has everything that a flawless thrash song has. Its doomy and demonic introduction pave the way for an incredible riff and totally change the tempo to full speed before changing up again to a mid-paced riff that is amazingly good and Sodom alike. In fact, early Artillery sounded more like Teutonic thrash then what could be heard in the US at the time for the most part. The other track I was referring to is "The Eternal War", which ironically starts pretty much the same way as the latter song. Yet again, the beginning brings a transition toward a fast-paced guitar riff but a little more groovy. However, we can hear the first sample of the high pitched vocal style of Flemming Rönsdorf in the bridge of that song. This vocal style was also fully adopted by the band moving forward to the next albums. Despite enjoying most of the material on this album, the weakest track among all to me was without any doubts "King, Thy Name Is Slayer" simply because it doesn't match up to the level of intensity on the album.

What plays a great part in how this album is so good is the actual raw and primitive sound of the guitars in addition to the vicious vocals performance displayed. The drums are also good but nothing to be impressed of and the bass is the most buried instrument on the album mix unfortunately, even though nicely audible in tracks like "Into The Universe" and the album title track "Fear of Tomorrow". All in all, this is nonetheless a great album even if it has a few weaker songs within its content. The great material, the overall amazing guitar work and sound makes up for it. This is something I would not be ashamed of recommending to any likers of old school speed/thrash metal fans.

Favorite tracks:

The Almighty
Deeds of Darkness
The Eternal War
Fear of Tomorrow

A silenced pistol seems an odd weapon of choice for the grim reaper, don't you think? He should be firing that quadbarreled rocket launcher like Colonel John Matrix in Commando. Or riding a hydrogen bomb down to earth like Slim Pickens at the end of that one movie that wasn't as good as Commando*. I think either scene would paint a far more accurate depiction of the explosive carnage Fear of Tomorrow is capable of, because as the situation currently stands, this cover is the equivalent of having Violent Restitution represented by a barbed wire-wrapped letter opener.

This thunderous thrash debut sounds decidedly more Teutonic than American, delivering a sinister array of grinding riffs that retain technical flair despite their massive payload. It reminds me frequently of Paradox and their full-throttle ode to religious squabble Heresy, particularly when the pulverizing 'Into the Universe' storms into an early crescendo. And that's the crazy part; those two albums are four years removed from each other, and even 1989's Heresy is often considered ahead of its time. This makes Artillery's debut go from impressive to astounding, especially when 'The Eternal War' begins as a rumbling siege engine of chugging, proto-death riffs and light gutturals, of all things.

It's remarkable how little kudos Fear of Tomorrow receives for its overall precociousness, not to mention its utterly evil atmosphere. The sickening buzzsaw symphony 'Deeds of Darkness' drips with malice, comparable only to elite contemporaries like Seven Churches and the superb Darkness Descends. Perhaps some might be disenchanted by the early-game jitters from vocalist Flemming Rönsdorf, who seems to have trouble deciding how best to deliver his vocals. 'Show Your Hate' sees a satisfyingly rabid delivery that will make Terror Squad fans feel right at home, but it's a bit of a mixed bag elsewhere. Roars, mildly annoyed snarls - sounding like he's a movie critic who's just read the opening paragraph of this review - and falsetto wails all make appearances, but the vast majority is a quasi-melodic rasp that isn't particularly captivating.

Fear of Tomorrow has other downsides weighing it down, namely production. The album feels cold and clammy, much like Coroner's R.I.P., and the fidelity is practically demo-like, even managing to oscillate from track to track. On the bright side, the rusty, entrenched reverb helps spotlight some bloodthirsty solos, all of which spark and scintillate like downed electrical wires. However, there's so much biting treble that Morten Stützer's bass is relegated almost entirely to brief interludes, such as the climax of 'Out of the Sky'. Considering this was intended to be a more technical thrash album, that's kind of a shame.

Much like Coroner and Mekong Delta, you can tell the members of Artillery were perfectionists, and wanted to stuff as many ingenious setpieces as they possibly could into their songwriting. A flaky production that wasn't quite up to that task, not to mention a disappointing degree of samey-ness, hold Fear of Tomorrow back from sounding like Artillery at full power. But don't worry; we'll know what that sounds like very soon.

*That was a joke.

I confess: it took many years before I understood the inner strength, the power and the dimension of Artillery's debut. I had the same situation with Mercyful Fate's two classic albums, but the style of Artillery's compatriots was very extraordinary and this might be an explanation. But "Fear of Tomorrow" is not without peers. So it remains a mystery to me why I did not enjoy this album right from the beginning. Perhaps I was just suffering from a rare sort of allergy against Danish bands.

Well, there were two songs that I liked immediately. The straight "The Almighty", based on a conventional verse-chorus-verse pattern, hits the mark with regard to its accessibility and catchiness. Roughly the same goes for "Out of the Sky". The Danish express starts rolling and who will be able to stand against it? The listener is confronted with a stormy, dark and sinister monster. Once unleashed by its creators, it leaves a trail of devastation. Especially this song shows, in hindsight, the enormous sound modifications of the band from the debut to their most famous work. The complete absence of the smoothness of "By Inheritance" is remarkable and Flemming Rönsdorf sounds like a demon from hell. In other words, he is far away from the approach he chose on their third full-length. His voice expresses darkness and calamity and he manages the deep tones very well. The entire album, the artwork as well as the music, creates a nightmarish feeling. Pure 1985 underground!

The niche black thrash did not yet exist back in the mid-eighties, but today I would label the album as very dark, venomous thrash, not least because of its production. The sound engineers were not interested in transparency, fine nuances or technical details. They put the focus on a dusky atmosphere without killing the numerous brutal elements of the relatively complex songs. Moreover, they did not take away the dynamic of the material. From this follows that even a decent, but not outstanding song like "The Eternal War" scores with its vibrant solo part. This is just one example - there are more songs that glitter with interesting details. The socio-critical title track, for instance, possesses a comparatively melodic chorus which does not meet the thrash standards, but its powerful, almost frenetic verses with the massive double bass speaks another language. Sometimes the band sounds like the (much) heavier alternative in terms of Danish occult metal. The first minute of "Deeds of Darkness" almost spreads some Mercyful Fate vibrations, but this introduction leads to a pretty fast and straight part. I guess Denner and Sherman agree that this would not have been the best surrounding for the King's falsetto.

Well, there are two songs that I still don't like very much. "King, Thy Name Is Slayer" has a well flowing speed part, but mainly it tends to doom metal with rather crude vocal lines. "Into the Universe" starts much more lively and fast. Yet all breaks down with the half-baked bridge ("come with me, come with me") and the failing chorus. Anyhow, "Fear of Tomorrow" paints an apocalyptic. hopeless picture of the future and has rightfully become a classic. If I compare my rating with those of my colleagues, I am still not sure whether I really have realized the whole quality of this album.

If you take a look at the year of release for this record, then you understand that the thrash subgenre had not even yet entered its prime, so when some relatively unknown act (globally speaking) coming from Denmark hit the scene with their debut full-length “Fear of Tomorrow,” I’m sure not many people expected to hear something this terrific. Sure, this record isn’t usually referred to when people talk about their favorite Artillery album and it's never a common one thrown around in thrash circles when talking about "greatest thrash albums ever," but that does not take away just how well this album came out and how it is looked at now. This band is typically revered by fans around the world because of their masterful ability to weave in technical excellence with a thrashing energy and mentality, but on this album, it’s pretty much non-stop thrash mayhem.

Before Artillery was making a name for themselves with the Stutzer brothers’ incredible fret work, they were smashing skulls with upbeat and fast riffs that were more akin to the bay area bands than the Germanic beasts in Europe. The opening track “Time Has Come” starts with an acoustic piece before it escalates to a track full of fury and shredding solos. “Out of the Sky” and “Fear of Tomorrow” are two of Artillery’s most thrashing onslaughts, with fast riffs that rip past the listener as well as stomping and crushing midpaced ones, battering drums, and Flemming Ronsdorf’s unique vocal delivery. Ronsdorf’s vocals are definitely reminiscent of vocalists from the USPM scene, where over the top vocals are commonplace, but unlike a majority of the power metal frontmen, Ronsdorf also possessed a real gruff edge to his voice that reminds me of Paul Baloff or Bobby “Blitz” during this time period.

In addition to some catchy riffs and charismatic vocals, Artillery also provided a good deal of variety that other thrash acts at the time didn’t have. Germany had bestial thrashers in Kreator and Sodom, but songs like “King, Thy Name Is Slayer” and “Deeds of Darkness” provided plenty of head banging moments while also captivating listeners with top-notch solos and fantastic songwriting. One of the band’s most classic songs also makes this album a must listen, as “The Eternal War” has more than enough spectacular qualities than many a thrash band’s albums do, including some incredible riffs, bass lines and brilliant vocal passages. “Fear of Tomorrow” is an absolute classic, yet Artillery would still go on to top themselves and permanently stamp their name on the thrash genre.

Highlights
“Out of the Sky”
“The Eternal War”
“Fear of Tomorrow”

Originally written for Nightmare Reality Webzine.
nightmarerealitywebzine.blogspot.com

Though few could compete with or be compared squarely to the German pioneers and headsmen of thrash metal, small scenes had sprung up all about Europe. Most countries had a small handful of bands who would sign record deals, perhaps release a cult classic or two, and disappear into the roll of years. A few, like Holland and England were able to hurl a few more names into the theater, but Denmark was better known for its melodic heavy/power metal acts like Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, and Pretty Maids. That all would change upon the arrival of one of the greatest thrash acts the continent would ever know, but it took a few years and some lineup shifts before Artillery could achieve its potential.

Fear of Tomorrow represents the fundamental elements that the Danes would refine into the masterwork By Inheritance, but by this point in the mid 80s the band didn't have nearly that level of musicianship or technicality. They managed to distinguish themselves through two characteristics: a more uplifting style of writing that wasn't nearly so dark as comparable acts like Onslaught, Destruction or Sodom; and the vocals of Flemming Ronsdorf, which were thicker and higher pitched in general than was typical for the genre. I'm not just talking about the screams used at the ends of passages by Tom Araya or Schmier, but these were more like a crude power/speed style, more akin to Udo Dirkschneider or Kris Boltendahl, heavily glazed with Ronsdorf's native accent. One the one hand, his presence creates an endearing and goofy effect, but he carries enough resonance as the reverb spits him over the dense, workmanlike guitars here.

The debut begins with some of the band's best early cuts, most culled from the demo of the same name that had come out earlier that year. "Time Has Come" opens with screams and hails of gunfire, a brief acoustic segue and then a storm of thick thrashing guitars below the haunted melody of the vocals, which is alternated with a more brutal mid-range in the little bridges that lead to and fro the verses. Michael Stützer shows his lead skills almost immediately, though he's not joined by his brother Morten quite yet, as he was on the bass for both this and Terror Squad (and pretty amazing with the four strings, to boot). The drums here are pretty standard rock and metal beats with grooves, and Artillery possessed a higher than normal swerve towards the classic, chunky NWOBHM style of moody riffing, but then, thrash had just been emerging from this leaning, or at least certain bands were drawing from that influence more so than the punk and hardcore that others admired. "The Almighty" follows in a similar schema, with more wild leads, memorable vocal lines and a solid, mosh inflected breakdown.

It doesn't slow down from there, "Show Your Hate" seeming even more aggressive with spikes of melody and some of the most viral, intricate speed riffing on the album. Ronsdorf's chorus of 'looser - it's time to kill/looser - show your...hate' is also pretty charming and distinct. Then the Danes shift to a slower gait with the opening slog to "King, Thy Name is Slayer", later exploring a more groove heavy aggression. But this track is an exception, as "Out of the Sky" and "Into the Universe" return to the band's enthusiastic throttling. Another track I really enjoy is "Fear of Tomorrow" itself, and engaging and cautionary pastiche of cliched future paranoia, basically the 80s Danish thrash answer to The Terminator, with a great chorus to it. The other tracks, "The Eternal War" and "Deeds of Darkness" have never seemed so catchy to me as the rest of the album, but they're consistent enough not to cock it all up.

This was absolutely a great, skilled debut, and showed nothing other than promise for their future, with its simple but icon cover image, a hooded monstrosity with a giant ass gun. Cheesy, but it gives you a tingly feeling when you see it represented among the cult faves of the 80s. That this is actually my least favorite Artillery album speaks volumes about what they would soon transform into with just a few years gestation.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Europe should have been delighted and proud to have had (and still have) one of the most representative thrash metal bands in its territory. Instead of looking at the other part of the ocean, it should have been sufficient for the metalheads to look closer and more carefully to discover one of the greatest bands that this genre ever gave us. These Artillery from Denmark are easily one of the best and, unfortunately, one of the most overlooked bands in the history. Their skills and power immediately caught the attention and the respect of a quite large but silent slice of people that were practising their cult in the underground, with constancy and loyalty, like this band always did.
The first thing you can think about them, after “Thrash metal from Legends!” is the word “passion”. This is what they are about and this debut, like the other albums in their discography, is an obligatory stopover and a Mecca for the thrash metal fan. The one and only that was so pure at the middle of the 80s. No innovations, no will to be sweet and gentle; just pure aggression and hyper speed. This is where the first form of speed metal that exploded at the beginning of the 80s is filtered through the energy and the violence of the first wave of thrash metal.

This Fear Of Tomorrow starts with a sounds of shots to continue with the first thrash/speed metal assault. The production is not so clear and the drums are a bit hidden in the background to prefer the guitars loud sounds. By the way, everything is perfectly audible and to appreciate it you must also forget about modern and polished productions. This is thrash and it doesn’t need your pathetic and commercial productions! The tempo parts are in fast succession and the up tempos are never too impulsive because sometimes they are mixed also with more technical and complex parts. The solos are just great and with this production, they seem ever more powerful. The first thing that you can immediately notice, along with the very good music, is the vocal style by the TRUE, the ONE and ONLY singer that deserves to be credited as one in the history of this band: Flemming Rönsdorf. He’s just one of the most personal, characteristic singers in this genre. His tone is not common and truly hard to put in words. He’s powerful and unique in its not so melodic but catchy style. The best thing is to hear it by yourselves.

The most fitting example of his inimitable style is “The Almighty” song where he gives the melody to the entire song, both in the verses and the refrains. Although, the refrain of “Show Your Hate” is great and the speed restarts of this song are just blowing. The energetic, killer and intricate riffage is mixed with more simple and devastating fast parts where the patterns, still remaining quite complex, are always catchy and powerful. And this happens in all the compositions here. What I’ve always found truly great on this album is the intensity it achieves to transmit to the listeners even during the mid-paced parts (“King Thy Name is Slayer”). A track like “Out Of The Sky”, with all its burden of a “ready to explode” anger is just amazing. And then, when it does explode is even unbelievable. The classic speed metal influences this time are far heavier and the refrain is always perfectly stuck and recognizable. “Into the Universe” is very similar for the total impact style and the vocals always give the right catchiness to the track. This is a perfect combination of opposites. By the way, they are not pop style, but they conserve always a right rawness.

The title track is a sheer assault diluted in three minutes and even this time the vocals are great and more melodic by the refrain. The guitars duets are the most technical side of the band and the solos are always a mix of hyper fast tremolo pickings and tapping parts. The sudden restarts by the drums are truly shocking. The last “Deeds Of Darkness” is the longest song here and during the mid-paced parts there’s the spectrum of Hellhammer flying over. The atmosphere here is darker but the speed parts contribute in filling the sound with galloping parts and fast up tempo parts. So, we reach the end of this 40 minute bloodbath and we are stunned. The guitars tune is still in my ears and it won’t come out. This band was exceptional at the time. They were filled with anger and desire of destroying everything, but always through a great songwriting and intelligent compositions. Don’t let this album be forgotten and covered by the dust of time.

Talk about a badass band name, if you ask me. Anyways if you were to take a quick look at the cover for this release and compare it to their follow up album covers, you could potentially make the assumption that this is probably their darkest venture. Along with this many might tell you that this is not exactly pure thrash. Both of these points are actually dead on. Their early demo's before this were among the heaviest stuff out there for the early 80's and this release is pretty much a perfect take on what they were all about in their earlier career. Regardless of having some non-thrash moments here and there, you didn't get much tougher than this in 85'.

The production is what I think really sets this album not only apart from their later releases, but also keeps them away from sounding like a lot of various albums other bands were putting out in 85'. The sound here is really thick, fairly murky, definitely raw, and the drums literally sound like they're making cracks in the Earth at times in the background. The guitars sound like rusty indestructible chainsaws. This all gives the album a ton of atmosphere essentially making the whole thing sound pretty damn evil. The mix isn't entirely consistent when it switches between tracks, but for the most part it's pretty good and maintains a good level of balance with the instruments and everything. Along with the tough production here, vocalist Flemming Rönsdorf sounds more aggressive here than he does on their next releases. He's an all around great vocalist in my opinion just with a different and more straightforward approach to vocals here, he tends to stick to mid to low ranges pretty often on this one but still sends out some of his unique screams at times. All in all his performance on this is awesome while sometimes sounding like a twisted psychopath, very aggressive stuff. Most importantly, the guy easily has a one of a kind of voice.

Flemming is far from being the only one here in top form however, every single member on this one is far more than just impressive. Carsten Nielsen whom would stick along with the band for the majority of their career does a fantastic job on drums. The drum work fits every song perfectly and when needed, he has no problem stomping around the place hitting insane speeds. Like I pointed out above, the drums have an interesting sound on this at least with the bass more than anything else, they sound like huge shock waves breaking into the ground fairly often and it just sounds epic. Morten Stützer on bass is downright amazing and stands out a lot throughout this album, especially on one of my favorite tracks The Almighty (not only a favorite off this album, but one of my all time favorite Artillery songs). When the solo's are going on in this song Morten completely dominates on the other side, 3:07 - 3:17 is simply unforgettable thanks to the bass (these lines appear before but don't stand out quite as much as they do at this mark). His performance is incredible throughout the whole thing. Just like a few other bands such as Flots and Jets, Artillery really knew how to fairly use the bass here. That leaves us with guitar duo Jørgen Sandau and Michael Stützer, these guys are just all over the place. A lot of the songs are riddled with various leads, multiple solo's, even some nice harmonies from time to time. This was definitely a complete effort with every member getting a nice share of time under the spotlight.

Overall Fear of Tomorrow is a definite classic from the majestic '85. They dab into some traditional instances here and there, maybe even throwing tastes of power and speed around a bit, with a heavy focus on thrash more than the rest. You can tell this was pretty experimental, but hey haven't they always been kind of an odd bunch? Not to mention they weren't the only one with a unique debut blending in a bunch of stuff back then. All in all it'd be unfair to call this inconsistent, because the quality is always there and this album utterly bleeds metal. Time Has Come is a nice classy start, has some instrumental stuff opening up that may or may not be your thing, it's nothing to really complain about though. This one almost sounds like some possessed NWOBHM offering slowly falling into hell or something, when the solo's come in things just go completely over the top. The Almighty is next which I already discussed somewhat above, this song is one demonic stampede with some insanely catchy lyrics. Show Your Hate ... 1:41, it's hard to explain but just imagine all the guys catching on fire with their instruments exploding and going nuts. Moments like these that are pulled off so well like they did here are utterly unforgettable and well, truly hard to come by thesedays (this also happens with like half of the tracks here, insane). Out Of The Sky is another obvious highlight, this song is like a nuke of riffs, metal, whatever, it's chaotic. Same can probably be said about the album self-titled track towards the end. The Eternal War and the finale Deeds Of Darkness both stand out a lot themselves and they also have those odd riffs that would be pretty prominent on Terror Squad, when you hear these riffs you just instantly know you're listening to Artillery. If you want something that's so heavy it's scary while being fairly unique from the norm at the time, get this. But hell if you can, get your hands on a copy of Through The Years. Instead of just saying Fear of Tomorrow is a classic, it's easier to just say Artillery themselves are.

Artillery is probably the second best band to come out of Denmark. The best of course is King Diamond/Mercyful Fate. This is Artillery's first release and in my opinion, one of the best thrash cd's of 1985. It is more mature and technical than many of the other thrash releases of the same year. The production is a little muddy, but doesn't hurt the music at all. It kind of gives it a raw feel. They also experiment a little with their sound, but it all turns out good. I cannot classify Fear of Tomorrow as pure thrash. I'd say that it's about 80% thrash and 20% traditional metal, but it works very well. There are even some moments that it leans toward early death metal. Don't let this turn you off for a second though. It still remains true to thrash, but gets a slightly more gruff, evil edge from time to time. Sometimes they even fuse thrash with slower Black Sabbath-ish music. Like I said before, they seem to experiment on this cd. It all sounds good though.


The cd begins with, true to their name, the sounds of artillery, small arms fire, and screaming. Then it transitions by acoustic guitar and the use of chimes. The chimes don't sound very metal to me, but whatever. They only last a second. It then leads into some nice quick thrash riffs and the vocals. Artillery's vocals are pretty unique. They are very gruff, yet somewhat melodic. I can't even compare these vocals to any other band. They are definitely thrash though and that is what matters.


The first two songs are pretty good thrash. Nothing bad to say about them. "The Almighty" is one of my favorite songs on the cd. Following that is "Show Your Hate". This is the song where you can hear some of their death metal-ish experimentation. The vocals are much deeper and angrier. The music is generally fast and some of the drumming reminds me of early death metal from time to time. Most of the riffs are straight up thrash though. The next song "King Their Name is Slayer" begins in a somewhat doom metal sound. This ends up being a more midpaced song with some thrashy moments. It is yet another of their experimental songs, but again turns out sounding good. "Out of the Sky" and "Into the Universe" are raging thrash songs and definitely highlights of the cd. "The Eternal War" is another that begins with a doomy sound and this time has a deep, dark, muffled demon voice. After that intro, it becomes another raging thrash song like the previous two. The last couple of songs are just more thrash with traditional elements thrown in.


This is one hell of a cd to come out in 1985. I have no real complaints about this cd. Somehow, they kept putting out better cd's with time. "Terror Squad" is even better than this cd and "By Inheritance is even better than that. Listening to this cd, it is hard to even think of how they could get better, but they do. This'll probably be a hard cd to come by. I bought the "Through the Years" box set with all four of their cd's. That is another one of those metal mind re-issues limited to only 2000 pressings. If you get the chance, buy it. This cd, and the next 2 completely kick ass and are well worth every cent.

“…I am the bringer of evil, I am the bringer of fright, I am the one with the power, try me I’ll show you I’m right…”

My first encounter with Artillery was another tape trade with Craig(ore) Pillard about a year after this was released. I remember not knowing what to make of the band, particularly the singer. The gunfire intro was half-expected considering their moniker, then the short baptism of acoustics, then the cool preliminary riff, then…two vocalists? One high, one low, singing in tandem? Then the growler goes at it alone for a few verses. Inaugural song “Time Has Come” can throw anyone off, bush leaguer or veteran, and I believe that was the situation for many who picked up Fear of Tomorrow, at least for those whose first taste was a common tape trade. Craig didn’t mention the band membership on the tape insert of course, so I was forced to ponder the dual singer phenomenon for a little while. I kinda liked it, actually.

Yeah, I would later learn those obscure pipes belong to a skinny blonde kid named Flemming Ronsdorf, and the first taste of his true sound comes with the chorus of that song. Subsequent tracks would prove how strong those pipes are.

I’ve never been comfortable calling the five-piece a mere thrash act, kinda like lumping the guy who’s a virtuoso of three instruments into the same group with the kid playing his kazoo. Even at first glance, their music was on the curious side, gleaning a traditional demeanor from the debut of Mercyful Fate (big stretch there, considering where King’s from), a sinewy power base that didn’t sound like Exciter, but exerted the same pressure, and held evidence of the uprising thrash epidemic. This trident of style gave their sound unpredictable precedence without sounding jerky or cursed with attention-deficit disorder, a flow of early progressiveness, the tight knit weave of musical confidence, and at the forefront of it all a lungman stood whose resonance is still largely unclassifiable.

“Time Has Come” tells much of the story except where the vocals are concerned as explained above; a slow churner of a chorus that moves the song along without overkill, a flowing main riff complimented by the experimentally-natured vocals, then launches into an aggressive dual solo blitz underscored by thick thrash rumble. Anyone who complains that the bass drowns in most metal mixes should bend ear to the bubbling cauldron that is “The Almighty”. Compelling lyrics (see the blurb at the review’s start) easily add to the song’s boisterous, solo-shrieked din. “Show Your Hate” further advances the incursion, a song rife with tempo and rhythmic shifts that keep the listener attentive with guesswork. Slowing it down is the weighty “King, Thy Name is Slayer”, but this only sets up the wolf in sheep’s clothing that is the dire “Out of the Sky”, perhaps the most tumultuous and assailing track on the lp where even the slower, level-headed region of the song has a gravitational pull.

“Into the Universe”’s crimson flow ebbs and surges like the tide, meanwhile the ominous air surrounding “The Eternal War” shortly subsides to more mid-paced action that rises and coalesces into a stirring chorus - Invadaaahh!. The title track wastes no time keeping the festivities alive with spurts of double bass rumbling under raucous, sometimes unorthodox passages and a charismatic chorus most bands with this type of raw power couldn’t get away with unless it were an anthem of sorts. A distant bell tolls the menacing riff of “Deeds of Darkness”. Another ration of layered vocals with an effective touch of echo is used again here, but quickly melts into one to be the sole constant variable in a shooting star medley of about a half dozen different rhythms with as many tempo and timing changes.

With that all said, thrash isn’t really a competent aural picture of Artillery. Thrash movements don’t leap out at you from every corner, but when present don’t weakly meander out into the open, and the well-traveled traditional facets only strengthen the blueprint. It's but an element in the band’s musical expanse, and while the demos may have switched gears often and dabbled with different genres, this is where it counts.

"...thy name is written with their blood..."