Storm of Sin

Don't you just fucking hate it when you discover a killer new band, only to find out they've already split after releasing a mere two albums? Such was my fate with Ravager. This, the first of their two assaults on the world, is probably slightly the better of the two discs, although Nazxgul Rising is a monstrous album in it's own right. This one just that bit dirtier, more in-yer-face and vicious though, with a more balanced mix that doesn't push the drums too high for their own good, so it wins.

Anyway, this album is a 33-minute whirlwind of chaotic blasting death metal madness, with enough filth and vomitous unhinged savagery to seperate it from the more clinical American and European styles. Basically imagine Sarcofago, Morbid Angel (circa Altars Of Madness) and newer Impiety in a blender and you get Ravager.. it's not surprising that Antimo and Oscar have since joined Impiety, because this seems to have influenced their sound on Kaos Kommand 696. For what it's worth, this is utterly unoriginal, and that suits me just fine. Naming highlights would be pointless, since each song simply grinds you into the fucking concrete before pissing on your mangled corpse.

Oh yeah, and there's a wicked cover of Chapel of Ghouls on the vinyl version too. Obviously Osmose didn't tell them they had to provide a bonus track for the LP until after they'd recorded the album, because it sounds like they did it on a 4-track in their rehearsal room. It's muddy, even more chaotic than the original Morbid Angel demo version, and it just flat-out rules. Too bad it's not on the CD, but that's life.