Tales of Terror

Let's get back to the (so-called) good old times. Everything was new and fresh as thrash metal started its worldwide victory march. Hallows Eve's debut was a child of its time. Amazing speed, an overdose of energy and a surprising musical maturity formed it. Just like so many further formations that have a legendary status today, Possessed, Forbidden or Nasty Savage to name but a few, the guys from Atlanta did not stumble into the recording studio next door. They had some phenomenal songs under their belt and were able to realize their musical visions effectively. I admit that Hallows Eve did not have the same position like some of their competitors, because they entered the studio a little bit too early. The playtime of less than 29 minutes gave a first indication and the quality differences between the individual tracks were enormous. Anyway, this debut still kicks ass.

Two absolutely outstanding songs at the beginning and the end of the running order frame the further material. Similar to "Agents of Steel", "Exodus" or "Hell Awaits", "Plunging to Megadeath" (no, Dave Mustaine, this is no typo) is one of the songs that must be part of every "best of classic thrash" compilation. Its rapid part goes straight ahead, takes no prisoners due to the mercilessly trampling main riff and crowns itself with a catchy chorus. The unleashed solo adds another furious touch and the following mid-paced sequence does not only convince with its lacerating riffing. It also gives room for Stacy Anderson to break out of his barking scheme. He sends some fervent and alarming screams through the speakers and completes the fanatic overall picture of the opener. The closer shows a completely different structure. One might call it progressive thrash in view of its complexity and the great number of autonomous sections. Yet their autonomy does not mean that the song fails to deliver a coherent overall picture. Thus, this is not a tune only mathematics professors can enjoy. Despite their dissimilarity, all parts blend seamlessly with each other. The constantly great riffing and the dramatic ending are the final components that make "Hallow's Eve (Including Routine)" to a real diamond.

At the other end of the scale, one finds the slightly ill-defined "The Mansion". It suffers from both its soft and unsuitable beginning and an unclear song pattern. The punk-like "There Are No Rules", the forerunner of the very exciting "Suicide", also fails to motivate me to leap for joy. It does not offer much, only the chorus line is shouted a thousand times. Compare these tunes with those I have mentioned in the previous paragraph and you will realize the difference in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, the good songs prevail. For example, the vibrancy of "Metal Merchants" captivates the listener. I don't know why the track was separated from its triumphant intro which here is called "Valley of the Dolls", but this question can be left open.

The direct and well-defined mix can compete with the productions of comparable albums of that time. Anderson's vigorous and variable voice has the prominent place that it deserves, but the guitars are also equipped with a powerful and pleasant metal sound. From this follows that "Tales of Terror" still emanates a powerful aroma although it celebrates its 33rd anniversary next year. Shit, the good old times are really long gone.

While the formative first wave of Bay Area and German thrashers were developing their chops with a vicious certainty, their influence was already being felt elsewhere around the globe. Taking up the reigns out of Atlanta, Georgia was a young band called Hallows Eve who would follow Slayer onto the early Metal Blade roster with a comparable sound combining lethal speed, aggressive vocals and a no frills attitude towards wild lead work and raw, ripping punk attitude. Now, they didn't sound PRECISELY like those Californian icons, and were not on the same songwriting plane as Show No Mercy or Hell Awaits, but aesthetically speaking, their songs certainly reeked of the brutal disposition framed in a "Chemical Warfare" or "Captor of Sin".

This is especially so for the first track on their debut, Tales of Terror: "Plunging to Megadeath", one of the band's cult classics, which just grinds along with a simplistic, tremolo riff pattern very similar to "Chemical Warfare". The bass is potent and pronounced, and the solo, while not as random and logic defying as a Hanneman/King staple, seems reliably uncouth. Vocalist Stace Andersen also created a similar contrast to Tom Araya, ranging from a barked, pissed mid-range as he uses on "Plunging..." to the screaming escalation found on other tracks. However, Andersen also has a pretty blue collar pitch on tracks like "Outer Limits", where he's howling along to replicate the guitars, or "The Mansion", where he sounds half like he's coaching orders at a football team in the fourth quarter, and half like a banshee let lose upon the material plane. Regardless, he's got a character to him that you all too rarely hear in bands anymore...even if he's at times a little loud in the mix here (a symptom of 80s production).

Tales of Terror also benefits from a good degree of variation in the songwriting, from the brief punk volatility of "There Are No Rules" or "Horror Show" to the more sharpened brutality of "Metal Merchants" or the aforementioned "Plunging to Megadeath". They'll imbue the muddy rhythm guitar tone with spikes of airy, eerie melodies for the opening of "The Mansion", or build a bluesy rocking selection of notes to "Outer Limits". There's a bit of Maiden in the brief instrumental "Valley of the Dolls", and the Georgians even make an attempt at a bonafide 'epic' here with their namesake "Hallow's Eve", over 8 minute of dynamically shifting speed metal with several mighty vocal sequences that remind me quite a lot of Manowar from the same time. It often feels that the album is a fraction too diverse for its own good, but not so much that it can overpower the crude charms of the individual compositions.

That said, Hallows Eve were not writing exemplary guitar riffs in general here, and there's a good reason they weren't rewarded with the same level of hype and momentum that others in the field were enjoying. Even at its best ("Plunging to Megadeath") you get the feeling it could always be just that much better. On the other hand, Tales of Terror is an album which hasn't lost a lot of luster in the ensuing 26 years. It's as raw, punishing and fun now as it was back then, paving the roads of nostalgia with broken bones, and sure to appeal to fans who like other raw old speed/thrash efforts like Tankard's Zombie Attack, Exodus's Bonded by Blood or the old material from Possessed and Slayer, especially those into campy horror lyrics about aliens, hauntings and so forth. Hallows Eve would refine their formula for their sophomore and career peak Death & Insanity, but this surely made for an entertaining introduction.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Hallows Eve one of many bands that draws inspiration from horror flicks & a very overlooked group, only known for a track featured in River’s Edge. But within their humble beginnings is an entertaining album bursting with energy, fresh riffs, & those cheesy 80’s lyrics we all know and love. Personally out of the three classic Hallows Eve albums this would be my favorite.

The production, I’d admit sucks, this is one of those albums that was recorded in what appears multiple sessions, because you can definitely tell the difference between The Mansion and Metal Merchants. Id say that the production on the ladder half of the album (Valley of the Dolls, Metal Merchants, Hallows Eve) contain the better end of the mix whereas the first four has a rougher tone to it. But one other complaint I have with this is it’s too damn short, clocking in at only 28 minutes makes this experience feel a little amputated.

Onto the musicians themselves, the guitar work by Skellator & David Stuart is epic. The solos are blindingly fast, the riffs are supercharged with energy, the pinnacle of the guitar work would have to be The Mansion, with the five tempo shifts, the bluesy mix after the incredible solo, just look it up on youtube if you don’t know what I’m talking about. As for the rhythm section the bass is off & on, I mean it’s quite easy to hear on some tracks & others it’s barely audible, but that’s probly apart of the mixing issue. But the drums, they seem to have had some issue at some point, for there’s two different drummers listed in the liner notes. But Ronny Appoldt who was the percussionist on tracks one through four is the better of the two, keeping up the frenzy in Plunging to Megadeath. But the vocalist, Stacy Anderson, is the kind of vocalist that I like, he’s performs in the style of Nasty Savage’s Nasty Ronnie & Kilbourn’s George Hilan, constant range shifts from deep growls to banshee like wails at some points.

So to rap this up this up, it’s a great album, with great speed, energy, & humorous lyrics but the production and the short time nock it down a few notches. Overall, great album & worth paying for.

Hallows Eve debut here is another one of those weird 2nd tier thrash releases that emits this unexplainable magic randomly pulling me back for more at times. Don't we all have some albums like that? You can't even figure out why you go back to listen to them, but you do? Yeah, it's weird stuff but it happens. Obviously because of this it's easy to say this is something you'd never recommend someone just getting into thrash, but rather those who are big on classic speed/thrash, for those folks it's possible they could get some enjoyment out of this. Even then it's still probably going to be a hit or miss for most.

One of the weirdest things about this release is vocalist Stacy Andersen. This guy is definitely more than competent and displays quite a vast range, but his inconsistent styles don't always mesh with the music very well. It honestly sounds like you could have five or so different vocalists singing here, sometimes that works but that's not really the case with this album. Right off the bat we've got Plunging To Megadeath and the vocals come shouting out of nowhere like a giant behemoth escaping from hell. It's not quite growling and you can understand the lyrics fairly well, which makes it great ... but this is the only track with vocals like this, which is a shame because if Stacy stuck with this powerful and intriguing style (honestly comparable to Bruce Corbitt's vocals on Rigor Mortis' debut) it probably would've made this album overall more interesting and powerful. On the rest of the album he sounds somewhat comparable to Steve Gaines and the likes, with a dash of Sean Killian from Vio-lence thrown in and so forth. The quality from the vocals tends to bounce back and forth from awesome to questionable. Those yelps on Outer Limits might grate some nerves and it's kind of hard to tell what he was going for on The Mansion, where it just sounds like he starts screaming like a wild boar with an uncontrollable range. I can't even tell what he's saying on There Are No Rules. Anyways, just like the album itself, the vocals are probably going to be a hit and or miss at times. I really enjoy them at some parts with the traditional screams and they're incredibly cool on the first track, but Stacy was just trying to be too much here (and for good measure, if sounding like five different guys wasn't even, he sounds like a completely different person altogether on their next releases).

Just like the vocals the album in general here borderlines from generic/broken to amazing stuff. This is like a lot of earlier speed/thrash records in that it's not completely all out thrash, but has several traces leading back to bands such as Venom, some NWOBHM acts, traditional metal, kind of like early Razor, Destructor, Artillery, etc. These elements are honestly the charm that makes this album win me over compared to their future releases, which are barely entertaining, typical thrash that doesn't do much. Plunging to Megadeth is a brutal winner that does sound a bit out of place, the heavier fans of German thrash could probably enjoy this number. Outer Limits is a catchy speed metal offering that works pretty well if you can tolerate the vocals (or trying to accept the change from the first track). The Mansion erupts like a twisted, sped up, classy NWOBHM track that manages to leave a great impression. Though as stated above Stacy's vocals are often hard to understand on this one and his frantic screaming is pretty odd, it's one of those things I kind of like but can't really explain why. A very quick track with some great leads thrown in at the middle and end. Valley of the Dolls is best seen as a nice and quick intro to Metal Merchants, which is easily one of the best tracks on here. Another one that's probably better described as traditional/speed metal with an excellent and consistent vocals delivery by Stacy for once, the chorus is insanely catchy and really classy. The finale and longest track here, Hallows Eve, is another one that's actually consistently top notch. Lots of nice idea's and changes throughout this one, especially in the middle. As for the other tracks not mentioned, they're pretty much skippable and not really worth discussing.

It's kind of like being a fan of German speed metal outside of the big names like Helloween, Running Wild, and Blind Guardian (I'm talking very early works here), chances are if you aren't a big fan of classic speed/thrash, you could probably pass by on Hallows Eve. Even though I only brought up vocalist Stacy Anderson here, everyone else manages to take the spotlight at some point. Great musicians that just didn't really have a clear idea of what they wanted to do, there's too much going here at times to call this consistent and sadly after this album, it seems like the band lost their creative edge. The production on this is pretty good, standard stuff with some slip ups. Simply put if you just can't get enough of 80's speed/thrash and haven't heard them yet, give this a shot and try to be optimistic.

"...I lost reality long ago, now I live in a horrorshow..."

I was going to list a bunch of same year debut albums to individually compare to Hallows Eve’s first, but halfway through the inventory I realized it was getting kinda long, plus I got bored, which means you would probably feel likewise after awhile, so I scrapped it.

But really, how does Hallows Eve’s debut stack up to its ’85 peers?

It couldn’t hold the jockstrap of the debuts from Destructor, Agent Steel, Destruction, Kreator, and Exodus; inaugural releases that weren’t all groundbreakers, but upon first listen is apparent the lp/band’s intent is business most serious, and it's revealed through unbridled intensity, consciously ear-catching songwriting, and an intrinsic confidence that can be almost palpable at times. However, Tales of Terror could probably hold the spit bucket for stuff released by Blessed Death, Sacrifice, Hirax, Iron Angel, Cyclone, Abattoir, and Tyrant.

The five-piece’s sound has always seemed greenhorn to me, like apprentices
that can beat a glowing horseshoe into proper shape and size, but pale to the distinguished craftsmanship of the artisans in the stable. Needless to say, I’ve rarely felt the urge to listen to Hallows Eve, having always been in a ‘if I have to’ capacity than one of enjoyment, but that doesn’t mean they’re as underachieving as, say, Anvil Bitch.

Don’t let the vocals of album kicker “Plunging to Megadeath” throw you into a false sense of security. This deep, chambered vox sound is unfortunately exclusive to this track; the rest receive a slightly high mid-toned delivery that hang a tad above garden variety by injecting enthusiastic yowls into many of the songs’ skin. The chorus is a high point, establishing intensity where the main riff’s stark structuring fails, and the complete, mid-tune timing overhaul, while well done, ultimately adds to the vocals’ deceitfulness. “Outer Limits” has Stacy Anderson’s vox going a little nutty, overloud and clamorous with a madly fluctuating tone, meanwhile “The Mansion” oscillates structurally, adeptly changing mood without sacrificing continuity that this band can’t really afford to waste.

Entering side two with a burst of evenness, “There Are No Rules” shoots to the point, ambling ahead arrow straight on a path beaten by a simple, no-nonsense, punk-entrenched chorus. There’s no separation between instrumental “Valley of the Dolls” and “Metal Merchants” in two ways: the obvious non-break in music and the cool establishing riff of the minute or so “VOTD” can also be found enlivening the rather tedious “Metal Merchants” here and there. Basically it’s one song split in half (for the allusion of getting more of your money’s worth with eight songs instead of seven). From out of a soft, melancholy drone of an intro/outro seeps “Hallows Eve including Routine”, a lengthy song that manages to float slightly above mid-level with some interesting rhythm/timing bends that in themselves aren’t thundering the earth below, but with the act and consciousness of shifting.

Sometime during the recording of this opus, drummer Ronny Appoldt broke his hand and was replaced by Tym Helton for the last two tracks, not that there’s any noticeable difference in style, but hey.

Very much second string from the musicianship to the songwriting, stimulation and flash are overcome by the unstylish, Father Time has it chained up in a corner to be kicked whenever someone approaches a stereo with it in hand, but if you can find this cheap (whatever cheap is to you) somewhere, you may as well hear for yourself.

Not to be confused with Stormwitch's same year, same named sophomore release.