No Answers

This great band were chiefly known for their vocalist Thomas Hertler who is also the founder of the renowned label Massacre Records. Another disservice is the band name choice which screams “second wave of black metal” louder than a bunch of hysterical satan worshippers. This was the reason why I dismissed them the first time around cause I thought they were the German analogue to the Scandinavian black metal movement that was rising at the time. Then I came across this review on Metal Hammer a few months later which presented the band in a fairly bright light, never mentioning black metal (a style that I also grew to like; with time). I used to disagree with that magazine’s evaluations quite a bit, but in this case I chose to trust them. And I discovered one of the finest albums to ever come out of the 90’s…

1991 was a great year for metal, the last outcry of the old school before its abrupt withdrawal from the scene. It matched the past year in terms of quality every bit of the way also seeing quite a few acts (Coroner, Atheist, Carcass, Pestilence, Heathen, Death, Dark Angel, Laaz Rockit, Intruder) hitting their peaks. It was also the year when technical/progressive thrash/death metal attained its complete form and ruled, albeit for a very short while. There was still inspiration left in the air which led to the appearance of new talented outfits like Assorted Heap, Exoto, Invocator, Chemical Breath, Of Rytes, Decision D, Jester Beast, Baphomet, etc. The latter actually started their career in the late-80’s with two demos; the material from them laid the foundations for the album reviewed here.

Baphomet hail from the same thrash/death metal hybridization school as Invocator, Assorted Heap and Pestilence. Of those three acts they probably come the closest to Assorted Heap as they are more thrash-fixated although in terms of creativity and technical exuberance they almost rank as high as Pestilence. I was utterly amazed to hear such stupendously brilliant music performed by a completely unknown for me outfit. It was literally hard to believe it back at the time, but it didn’t take too long for me to be completely won for the guys' cause.

A short atmospheric intro (“Median”) is followed by the ripping title-track which piles a fabulous riff after another the ensuing dark atmospheric salad reminiscent of Coroner’s “No More Color”, before impetuous fast-paced death/thrashing commences laced by a prolonged lead section. “Past and Present” starts weaving schizoid technical riffs from the get-go keeping the proceedings within the mid-tempo confines with sinister overtones the latter also coming from the overshouty death metal vocals; a most shining example of creepy speedless technicality. “The Fence” puts a fence all around you built of steel intricate guitars which become more vivid later moshing out with a lot of sophistication, their stride broken by an officiant doomy passage the singer participating there with his more subdued, lower-pitched baritone. “Act of Jealousy” marches on with an intense raging section ala Pestilence’s “Testimony of the Ancients”, but the situation gets calmed down with a slower, atmospheric stroke only for the latter to be overwritten by the next in line speedy escapade.

“Elmstreet” is an ode to Freddy Krueger from Wes Craven’s horror hit, of course, and logically begins with a lengthy eerie quiet intro, but expect the ultimate headbanging fest later the guys death/thrashing like being pursued by Freddy himself, never pausing for a break again in a manner similar to the aforementioned Pestilence magnum opus. “Time Has Come” to die apparently as this number begins with a short interpretation of the Funeral March, and later on the band retain the oppressing feel although the approach is still quite fast-paced for most of the time including a cool galloping, more melodic digression which leads to more elaborate progressive decisions where melody “fights” with dynamic hyper-active thrash/death till the arrival of the more laid-back lead section. “Identified” is a stomping technicaller with a great melodic deviation where the leads reign supreme accompanied by imposing doomy cuts occupying the middle; watch out for more wild thrashing in the second half. “Rise of Baphomet” is a 2-min rocking joke, a frolic all-instrumental piece with an infectious galloping insertion; and “Terror of Thoughts” is a frantic shredder with an ominous serene mid-break, resuming the maddening thrashing melee after that which rolls all the way to the end of this piece, and also of the whole album.

Like Assorted Heap, this band belong to the “nomansland” between thrash and death metal and as such can’t be placed beside the representatives of the technical/progressive thrash metal wave which started at around the same time in their homeland. In terms of complexity and intricate performance they match every single one of them, but it seemed as though they wouldn’t have minded taking off towards the death metal fields following their close soundalikes Pestilence down that road, and also another Dutch outfit that were operating on the same technical plate, Decision D.

The world was still a great place to live with all those new bands around; it just remained to be seen how long they were going to stick around, and whether they wouldn’t remain just a one-album-wonder. In the Baphomet case the fans didn’t have to worry: the guys followed up in the best possible way with “Latest Jesus” a year later, full of confidence, not necessarily dependent on labels’ and incompetent producers’ caprices with their frontman’s company firmly behind them. This next opus saw them diminishing the speed to an extent for the sake of more intricate slower arrangements which still worked fine giving the album a more serious, progressive character. With the difficult second album-spell behind them, the band deserved to have a break that was put an end with “Trust” in 1994, their last opus which diversified their palette with more simplistic song-structures and less hard-hitting fretwork consequently failing to reach the high standards of its predecessors.

This swansong was by all means an intentional slackening the band having decided to let themselves loose with a more conventional song-writing in order to bid farewell to their fans in a more linear, orthodox manner. Besides, their mission was already accomplished with two exemplary efforts, and their epitaph was more than a distinguished one seeing them steering clear of any detrimental groovy/industrial infirmities. This was the reason, I guess, why neither of the musicians was seen in another act later; Hertler focused on his activities with Massacre Records while the others pursued other urges not exactly related to the music industry. If you think of it, once you’ve reached the pinnacle of your creative powers in a certain walk of life, there’s hardly any need in carrying on, is there? And this is how the Baphomet saga came to an end; content, fulfilled… worshipped.

First of all I will say this is quite an odd release and easily recognizable in a good way amongst any other thrash recording out there. Browsing the net, I have read a lot of comments on forums and other various sites like youtube about how the (US) Baphomet is "better", I don't know how true that is. But anyway, "No Answers" does dish out a fair amount of interesting and enjoyable thrash.

I think it is the vocals that would be the main "put off" to most. There are two types of vocals throughout this album, the really odd, cartoon-like, growling type that are pretty funny and sort of add to the whole appeal and originality of the album, then there are the more aggressive and almost whiny vocals that also sound quite strange. But it's the riffs in this album have something other bands fail to offer, stickability, they are very catchy and memorable a lot of the time. The solo's fit perfectly and are quite enjoyable. It's also the way this album is presented that gives it such a good feel, it has enough interesting hooks to say they with this album they had a style of their own. Though not the most original album by any stretch but, one example of their own sound would be the mid section of "Identified" which comes after the first solo, it's quite an unique little slow passage.

Now, some of the song structures and arrangements are a little underdeveloped at times which only brings the album down a bit. For example, sometimes you will hear an uncharacteristic, bland change between choruses and bridges of the songs that makes the music sound kind of unfinished, that coupled with the fact that there are a couple of less impressive songs on here, and I'm not talking about the two instrumentals.
The ones I am talking about are "Time Has Come", it's the longest track that gets a bit repetitive, In fact they could of cut that song in half and been more creative with it. "Past and Present" is the other average mid paced track that isn't terrible but just not as good as the better tracks on this album.

The standout track is "Elm Street". Obviously it's in relation to the Wes Craven's film, "A Nightmare On Elmstreet". Not only is it the fastest, but it's also quite a vicious, It has razor sharp, super effective riffs, It has a fairly catchy chorus and it's a great thrash song. The title track, "The Fence" and "Act of Jealousy" are runners up, "Act of Jealousy" being undeniably catchy and memorable as hell. With "The Fence" there are great build up riffs that lead us into a slow, daunting chorus. The title track is another solid, above average thrasher.

Strangely, the production on some tracks differs, but luckily it doesn't really affect the final outcome of the album. This album has a dark / feel good presence when it playing. Although it's not an outstanding classic and not the most recognized thrash record, it's an enjoyable and memorable little surprise.

Before I heard this band, I was one of these people that would say "You can't make a bad thrash album." After all, there are so many killer thrash bands out there, that if you didn't come across terrible groups like this, you would think exactly that.

I don't remember exactly how I came across this, but I think I was searching on youtube for music for the American band with the same name (who is so much better than this band it's not funny) and happened to stumble across one of their songs. It was FUCKING AWFUL! I remember showing the group to my friends after when we were chilling, smoking weed and they were all laughing hysterically at how bad the vocals were.

So I decided, on a whim, for whatever strange reason, to give this album a listen, just for kicks, and I have to say, it's pretty fucking bad.

For one thing, the sound quality on the recording is inconsistant. It almost sounds as if different equipment was used during the recordings of some of these songs, which kills the flow of the album. It does not sound connected in any sense of the word. Also, the vocals are so loud that when they come in, they almost completely drown the sound of the guitars, which sound paper-thin and have absolutely no power to them. But let's be honest here, the sound quality of this album is a very small problem compared to the actual music.

Alot of these riffs sound pretty recycled, there is absolutely NOTHING here that you haven't heard some other thrash band do. This is third-tier thrash if such a thing even exists. The way some of the riffs are put together is completely disjointed and makes no sense on some of the songs; it's as if a thrash or death metal band recorded improvised music on the spot while they were drunk and coked up. YES, IT REALLY IS THAT BAD.

But the worst part, which is why this album is getting a 10% instead of maybe a 40% or 50%, are the vocals. Holy fucking shitballs, these vocals are easily some of the worst I have heard on any metal album EVER. It sounds like a demon burping most of the time, and when the vocalist occasionally tries to do high shrieks, it sounds like a 75 year old chainsmoker crying out while being assraped. And as I said before, they are so loud it drowns out the guitar, even though the riffs aren't really worth hearing anyway.

The only reason I could recommend this album to anyone is because it is so bad it will amuse you to no end. Have you ever seen a movie so bad that it's good? With this hunk of shit, which for some reason was deemed worthy to be put out to the general public, it's basically the same concept.