Satan's Gift

This fairly underground German thrash band was another one of those who never became famous, along with Darkness, Protector, and a couple of other heavy-hitter German bands. Contrarily, this band is deservedly not famous, while Darkness and Protector clearly deserved more attention. Deathrow's Riders of Doom is a very dark thrash metal record, that is certainly a decent listen, and it makes you want to admire it. It is true, it is original, it is genuine, sharp, crushing metal, you just want to love it. However, it falls short on so many things that it becomes almost completely forgettable.

Now, do not get the wrong impression, this is clearly not a bad record. In fact, it is a lot better than average, and it has some things to offer. Some highlights include the very darkly melodic, almost Destruction-like "Dark Tales", the mean, devastating "Satan's Gift", and the title song. Those are excellent moments, and especially the solo of "Riders of Doom"... Those are some of the deepest melodies I ever heard in music. Sadly, the record is not consistent, though. There are a couple of good moments, but man, it does not hold up.

Deathrow consists of four members, and they are running on a fairly popular quartet lineup. While the music they manage to create is very aggressive, and it does make a lot of noise, and it gets the message through, it is just not enough. Oftentimes, the songs sound very alike, and the melodies are not decent enough for them to be memorable. Speed is there, the aggression is there, but the genius isn't. Most of the music on here is fairly basic thrash metal, with decently primitive riffs, and a couple of more complex solos here and there, but even those are based on speed, not brilliant writing.

The drumming is alright. Not great, not terrible. One thing I could highlight is the vocals. This dude has a very dark voice, and he is able to be very aggressive and energetic while maintaining the depth of his voice. The guitar work is good, but it does not compete with other thrash bands from Germany in this era of time. There are a couple of more striking riffs, like the main riff of "Satan's Gift", but the album as a whole is clearly not on that level. Bass is not really relevant in the album, I personally never once heard one sign of bass guitar, so that's that.

Perhaps one of the biggest issues with this record is the production. It does have an upside, namely, it is very dark. It sounds like it is coming from under the ground, from some cellar of a dark, abandoned castle or something similar. It reminds me of the production of Darkness Descends, which is also not the greatest. The instruments do not have their own individual paths in the mix, everything collides and blurs together, and they end up making one giant bowl of noise. They are coherent, but you really have to pay attention to hear out the fills, the notes on the guitars, and all the details in general. Very lousy job in terms of production.

So, this underground "barn find" is not the one you are looking for. Thrash metal has an insane amount of underground 80s records that were simply buried under the success of other, more popular bands. This is one of them, but this album does not belong in the league of let's say Sodom, Destruction, Darkness, and some others. There are some better moments, but if you are an experienced thrasher, this will not impress you as a whole. If you're looking for lesser-known thrash masterpieces, check out Extravasation by Aspid, Demon Preacher by Deathwish, and Death Squad by Darkness.

When I first discovered Deathrow few years back ago, it was with their second studio album "Raging Steel" that I had my first listen to the band. It gave me a way different perspective of what the band is all about at this point. This is mainly because Deathrow is a band that evolved pretty quickly into a more progressive way. After I got a few listens of "Raging Steel", which is an album I really praise also by the way, I was curious about the band's early playing style, and so I came across this let's say, awful cover album titled "Satan's Gift". But it still gave me at least the feeling that there we have some serious shit! Well, since the record was banned in few places, they reprinted it as "Riders of Doom", which have a far better album cover art. Having a listen to this album showed me how the band played a different style on their beginning then later on, and even if I like the stuff they did after, the fans of 80s extreme metal will dig this way better than album like "Deception Ignored", and I think rightfully so.

The debut album of the Germans Deathrow, "Riders of Doom", was released back in 1986, at a time that the most popular bands were already enjoying success. Fortunately, for these new thrashers, Mille from Kreator got them a deal with "Noise Records", by persuading them to sign the band because he thought they were good. He was right, because Deathrow has put out an excellent thrash record. They often can be compared to bands such has Coroner or some country mates of Darkness and Vendetta. But yes, the album isn't something we can define as greatly produced with super nice polished sound, but that's exactly the whole point of its awesomeness! The raw sound featured on this album was exactly the kind of quality I was looking for, and noticed that the 80s German bands were quite good at delivering this sort of unpolished thrash sound, especially on their debut. This record has a total of 9 songs with a running time of 39 minutes, but two tracks are instrumentals, the first song "Winds of Death", and the fourth one being "Hell's Ascent".

After the intro song, the album kick-off for real with "Satan's Gift", a song of barely 3 minutes. But even with its short length, it quickly shows you what's the album is all about, crazy fast riffing and solos from dual guitarists Sven and Uwe, furious drum beats and aggressive semi-harsh vocals of Milo. Even the choruses are catchy as fuck, I got them stuck in my head for a very long time, to tell you the truth. But the most interesting aspect we have on this record is the guitar work of this duo. You can clearly notice how much talent these guys had, it's not surprising that they got even more technical in their next album. Even if "Riders of Doom" isn't a great piece for the technical thrash department, it's still way more technical than the first release of Kreator or Sodom. However, it still have more or less the same level of brutality and aggression, which makes it a very special album. We have also a great variety of riffs on every songs, centered on the speed and violence, there's also great melodies in tracks such has "Dark Tales", "Samhain" or "Violent Omen". The mixing on this album is pretty good I would say. The only issue I noticed is the lack of presence of the bass guitar, which probably got buried in the mix by guitars. This is not the kind of problem you have to care on this sort of record ... Especially on an early German thrash release. The overall musicianship is really promising, the vocals of Milo are somewhat similar to bands cited before, which is a pretty damn good thing if you ask me...

The lyrical content featured on "Riders of Doom" is varied with themes of fantasy, death, violence and evil stuff. They followed a bit what Kreator did on their "Endless Pain" album. Despite not being original on the lyrics side, they managed to create the feeling of catchiness on their songs. The only reason I would not give this album a perfect rating is because the intro song "Winds of Death" is a bit too long, and so I tend to just skip it to get the speed I want. However, it's really not much of an issue because all the other tracks are amazing. This is without a doubt one of my favorite thrash record of 1986.

I recommend this album to every fans of thrash metal obviously, but it will surely appeal to the people who are more into the old school stuff of the 80s that got a crappy sound, but doesn't care at all because it makes them want to thrash and bang their heads t'ill death.

Favorite tracks :

Dark Tales
Riders of Doom
Samhain
Satan's Gift

I confess that I don't like the apostles of political correctness very much. I also do not follow the rule that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But I cannot be accused of not liking the early Teutonic thrash releases. Yet each movement has its black sheep and the debut of Deathrow belongs to this species. The most and simultaneously only exceptional feature of this output is that it was released with two different covers. That's not much, if I am not mistaken. Thank God, I possess the "Riders of Doom" edition. Therefore, I do not need to write about the ridiculous and embarrassing cover of "Satan's Gift". Too bad that there is still a lot to criticise.

The fundamental problem is that Deathrow were not yet ready in order to release a strong work. Instead, they copied some parts of Slayer. For example, a section of the title track ("Riders of Doom", not "Satan's Gift") pays tribute to the "Watch as flowers decay" part of "Die by the Sword". Okay, they were not the only one who were highly influenced by the thrash kings from Huntington Park. But their competitors like Destruction or Kreator were able to mix the sound of their role models with a couple of own ideas. Deathrow fail in this discipline. Let me refer to "Riders of Doom" (the song) once again. For example, its solo is completely worthless. The band just wanted to integrate a solo, regardless of the consequences. The result is a rapid tone sequence that does not emanate any kind of atmosphere.

The voice of lead vocalist Milo is aligned with the guidelines of early thrash. His performance is fairly monotonous, aggressive and not very expressive. This contribution does not constitute a major flaw, but it also does not pull the chestnuts out of the fire. Well, there are some acceptable songs. Their names are "Hell's Ascend", "Spider Attack" and "Slaughtered". (You see, no lyrical stereotype was safe from the band.) Yet even these tracks only deliver a kind of fast food thrash, because almost no section keeps sticking in the mind of the listener. And whenever a more or less memorable part shows up, it reminds me of Slayer. The mid-tempo sequence of "Violent Omen", to pick out another example, lies in close proximity to "At Dawn They Sleep". I still wonder that Tom Araya does not whisper "to lie dormant is certain death" during this part.

In a nutshell, to many sections of the full-length come to nothing. Thus, the album lacks of coherence and compactness. The lame intro fails to make the listener curious and the hectic pace of the following tunes reinforces the impression that the whole debut was recorded due to a kind of over-reaction. It seems as if the band could not exist another day without having, at whatever price, released an album. Admittedly, the appropriate production does not stand in the shadow of comparable releases of the year 1986, but this is only a small comfort in view of the half-baked musical content. A few number of good riffs and straight, convincing parts (inter alia the beginning of "Samhain") was not enough to enter the top of the national thrash ranking. Without question, the first musical results of Deathrow were neither too complex nor overly simple and they did not lack of honest aggression, but they were definitely mediocre.

Satan's Gift is the debut of Germans Deathrow, and quite a far cry from the direction the band would later develop into. This is rough, rugged speed/thrash metal with heavily accented vocals of a mid range. None of the complexities of the band's magnum opus are present, although the band could still write a pretty mean riff that helps propel the material forward. You can definitely hear a US influence from early Metallica, Slayer, or Possessed, combined with the first few works of Destruction or Sodom, but despite all this, the band didn't really get a heap of attention. Fortunately, they were on Noise Records, benefiting from the best roster ever in 80s metal, so they developed a peripheral audience among fans of other acts like Tankard, Vendetta, Coroner, Voivod and the like.

Though the album was originally called Satan's Gift, it is also known as Riders of Doom, after being banned and re-released with a new title/cover artwork. Considering the times, this is not such a surprise for a few random metal albums to be targeted, especially when one has an image of the devil holding some bloody organ of the savior, the crucifixion in the background. Actually, this guy looks a little like Kreator's mascot in the 80s (another Noise Records band), and the cover kind of sucks, so I actually prefer Riders of Doom. This was not the first Deathrow record I was exposed to, that would be Raging Steel, but listening back I feel like the two are at the same level of composition and viral, raw power German energy. If you fancy one, chances are you should also dig the other, and ultimately I prefer this debut slightly.

"Winds of Death" is a 2:30 minute instrumental which sets up a moshing battery of slower rhythms, while chords stretch across their taut surface. This is just a tease, because the title track "Satan's Gift" then explodes at a far greater speed, and we hear Milo's dark, early vocals, which sound pretty sloppy but endearing, almost like a crossover/thrash voice. The riffs are dirty and frenzied, but they're not entirely hooky, nor is the chorus. Instead you've got a comparable style to a Vendetta, Tankard, Exodus or Razor of the times. Just good, friendly, violent fun. "Riders of Doom" continues this hyperactive blitz of manic speed/thrash, reminding me quite a lot of Hell Awaits-era Slayer, especially the way the chords change and the vocal patterns squirm, you feel like you're about to hear the words 'Homicidal Maniac' at any second. "Hell's Ascent" is a little more melodic at first, almost Running Wild style but then yet again transforms to burst attack mode. I love the solo sequences after 2:00.

Speaking of 'attacks', the next piece is titled "Spider Attack". That's one of the best song titles I've ever seen, and totally fit to the 80s innocence of this record. It also kicks ass, but by this point, the band playing at the same speed in every song (at least chunks of the songs) has become a little redundant. At least here the riffs are slightly cooler. "Slaughtered" sounds like a great hybrid of early Slayer and Destruction, but with increased levels of shredding madness, and "Violent Omen" has great guitar work also, though the slower, plodding thrash rhythms are less than desirable. "Dark Tales" opens with an elegant, clean brooding guitar passage and then once again, a blitz of welcome but predictable speed, interlaced with some intricate guitar spasms. The band really went all out here, probably one of the fastest records of its type, at least from Germany. The closer "Samhain" was the band's former namesake (they recorded several demos under that name), and no surprise its another fast as fuck volley of black arrows targeting the listeners' eardrums.

If you're a big fan of crazy ass, hyper 80s thrash like Dark Angel, Slayer, Razor, and so on, I think Satan's Gift would truly appeal to you. The composition is quite straightforward, though the band do contribute some killer hooks at times. I'll be honest, this is like crude oil that has yet to pass a refinery, but if you love that insane edge like Evil Invaders, Darkness Descends, Hell Awaits or Bonded by Blood, this is a grim, blood-dripping paradise. On one hand, it's the heaviest and fastest Deathrow record, but this is a band capable of so much more, especially in the vocal area (wait until you hear what Milo would sound like in but a few years). I don't love it or live it as often as many other records of its type, but a minor cult classic here if you are in dire need of speed.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

On their debut lp, this German quartet strangle the mud from of the heaviness besieging countrymates Iron Angel and Angel Dust, take what’s left, throw it into a supersonic cement mixer that vibrates with the frantic musicality of past Savage Grace/near-future Death Angel as well as the rabid mellifluence of a not-yet-formed Dark Tranquillity, and lastly extract/replace singers Mike Smith, Mark Osegueda and Anders Friden with someone truthfully less distinguishable and/or engaging. What finally pours out is a sea of fairly inspiring, yet barely controlled musicianship/speed frenzy that, at the time, received only bathwater-warm consideration. And that’s because…? Well, since Deathrow hailed from a country that was fisting it out with the US for the genre’s dominance, it’s more than likely the band merely got lost in the gluts of both nations' underground markets...and y'know, let's face it, even as a combined market it still only attracted sporadic, mostly-teenaged wanderers who may have been lucky enough to find a few bucks in change after ransacking the couch that afternoon...and of those, most were just happy to have gotten their mitts on regulars like Somewhere in Time, Turbo, The Ultimate Sin, Rage for Order or Orgasmatron, let alone the more left field Reign in Blood, Peace Sells... or Master of Puppets. Oh sure, nnoooow stuff like Pleasure to Kill, Darkness Descends, Game Over, Obsessed by Cruelty & Eternal Devastation may have found some sort of semi-worldwide notoriety (I'm forced to say 'may', 'cos to this day I still meet 'raging metalheads' my age 'who've been eatin', breathin' & shittin' metal' for thirty years and still haven't heard of Anvil), but not then. Definitely not then. I can say with confidence, however, that Riders of Doom/Satan's Gift didn't go unnoticed 'cos it sucks.

Wild speed riffs, combustible tempos, structural shifting and an unheralded penchant for warp drive harmony can be unearthed from the nine tracks on Satan’s Gift of Doom Rides. For me, the one weak spot in the order is vocalist Milo. In fleeting glimpses he can whiten a fist and is by no stretch terrible, but for the most part sits outside the heated lines of fury and gives a performance just a short jog ahead of average. Guitarists Thomas Priebe and Sven Flugge are two unsung adventurers – rambunctious, yet lucid fretboard dynamics flow like razor sharp wind, moving quickly with fair unpredictability like a Superball thrown by Nolan Ryan in a phone booth and with musical competency to boot. Not that the lp’s opener, the rather elementary “Winds of Death”, showcases any of that, but instead wordlessly introduces the listener to the band’s more constrained, melodious side. This uneventful levee disintegrates with “Satan’s Gift”; a boon of throttle-amputating energy, a tempo-shifting chorus, some cool fretboard fingerwork, and some of the few ear-awakening screams Milo manages to cough up. The fiery title cut continues this pace, but crams a more methodical slower passage into the mix. One riff in particular - a dramatic, mellifluent, solo-esque rhythm that would become the trademark for much of Dark Tranquillity’s future early work debuts here - grows to more adult stature in the wordless “Hell’s Ascent”, where full-bore velocity envelopes technical melody not to snuff it out, but to aid in its polymorph, and the creature it becomes is quite a galvanizing, head-spinning instrumental. “Spider Attack” keeps its eye on the web with more seamless wrath and ends the side with an acrid smoking gun smell.

“Slaughtered” and “Violent Omen” keep things flowing in supercharged fashion, yet pinch fuel lines abruptly where needed to accommodate formidable tempo changes and some impressive, early Euro-metal dual guitar trickery that had already shown its face. The soft-starting “Dark Tales” is another track of notable progressive fluency, meanwhile the somewhat quirky final track, “Samhain”, is a crossroads of tempo and time. Runaway speed owns one path. A dirge-like spell uncharacteristically travels another. A questionable chorus (where Milos sounds especially underpowered bordering on frail) meanders down yet another, and a medium, solo-laced pacer skips down the last trail. The paths meet at a center that doesn't have the level of solidity or advancement it needs to bring it all home, yet it doesn’t crumble underfoot either. What I hear is a heart set on ending its first work with/on the strength of a finale's finale, a caboose that requires that extra mile of untapped songwriting all band's assume they have. Maybe they'll get there. At least they tried.

Riders of Satan’s Gift of Doom hurdles past an average thrash/speed description. Other than really one filler track that can use a boot off the bridge and, to a lesser extent, its practice-needing finale, the real gift here is its lack of any real tedious tracts in musicland, given by Satan, God, or your crotchety Aunt Agnes who'd suffer heart palpitations if she heard any of it. Someone could’ve tied a ribbon on a more bewitching vocalist, but hey.

Too above-average to be forgotten, ignored or chosen over.