Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Metal Inquisitor > Doomsday for the Heretic > Reviews
Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday for the Heretic

Denim And Leather Poser Killers - 80%

Dragonchaser, January 24th, 2023
Written based on this version: 2005, CD, Hellion Records

I had a wild time with Metal Inquisitor on 2014’s ‘Ultima Ratio Regis’, and thought I’d check out their supposed classic, 2005’s ‘Doomsday For The Heretic’, as this one caused a lot of fuss back in the day. I missed out on this band while they were still slashing away, although I did know of them, and considering the candy-ass power metal I was spinning daily back in 2005, this would’ve sounded old as time. It still does, and though I don’t like it as well as ‘Ultima Ratio Regis’, it’s still a feral attack of poser killing 80s metal.

Revivalist bands are all over the place these days, and that’s a cool thing for the most part, but they are paying tribute to a time long gone, a time most of them didn’t experience themselves. Metal Inquisitor came before all that, and for them, no metal album was released after 1985. Hell, they probably stopped buying albums the minute Metallica signed to Elektra, and they only listened to shit that came out before thrash got big. People call these guys thrash a fair bit. They aren’t, though. But they do steal a lot of riffs from ‘Kill Em All’ and ‘Killing Is My Business’. They use them to propel their songs but don’t make it the main attraction. Metal Inquisitor are just old school 80s metal all the way, pure denim and leather poser killers that riff you to death on ‘Doomsday For The Heretic’ as if this was going to be the last metal album before the end of the world. ‘Ultima Ratio Regis’ had a strong power/speed vibe, but this one reaches farther back than that, to a predominately NWOBHM sound that chops up bits and pieces from early Maiden, Priest, and Raven, then feeds it through a wood chipper of burgeoning US metal like Jag Panzer, Metal Church, Lizzy Borden, and Liege Lord, to create a fusion of British and US steel. The production is much dustier than on ‘Ultima’, and would be, considering it was only their second album and recorded nine years before it, so it doesn’t have that modern punch. Songs like ‘Logan’s Run’, ‘Star Chaser’, and ‘Restricted Agony’ sound like they were recorded in 1985 and found on a warped cassette in some gatekeeper’s basement. The production isn’t rough, though. The guitars sound smooth and well-defined, which works well with the riffs, as most of them don’t have the bite of thrash, more the cleaner sound of early Saxon and Priest. There aren’t as many twiddling guitar harmonies on this one, either; it’s just a nail-spiked bat of tight riff work and wild solos. Vocalist El Rojo sounds like he’s calling from a distance, and isn’t as nasal as he was on later works. He still sounds like Mark Shelton with some kind of attitude problem, but he’s not as eager or unhinged as he was on ‘Ultima’, and I kinda miss that approach.

There are some top songs on this like the driving title track and the speed metal blaster ‘M4-A1’, but this generally has an earlier metal feel than their other stuff, and would’ve sounded way off in 2005. Revivalist bands would kill to sound like this. Metal Inquisitor just had it right from the start, because to them, the 90s never happened. Metal never got over its classic period. It ended before it went to shit, and that makes this album cool as hell. I wouldn’t call this a lost classic by any means, but it has no weak moments at all, and if you fancy a metallic mix of old Maiden, Priest, Metallica, Saxon, Metal Church, Grim Reaper, and even Thin Lizzy, you’ll bang your head like a lunatic to ‘Doomsday For The Heretic’.

Anthemic Traditional Metal - 95%

orionmetalhead, March 31st, 2008

While Metal Inquisitor is certainly their own band with a certain classic style, I believe it isn't outlandish or without (crystal) logic to say that Doomsday for the Heretic can best be described as a more thrashed and, definitely far more British (shhhh... I know they are German), version of a band that rhymes with "vanilla code" and comes from Kansas. El Rojo's vocal style is definitely reminiscent of Mark Sheltons with a healthy dose of Saxon's Peter Byford's own, anthemic style mixed in.

The tone suits everything that this album is about. The guitars are edgy with lots of treble and mid range, allowing the bass to really fill up the low end audibly. The drums are basic in sounds and in technique. Don't expect blast beats, crazy fast double bass or a four minute long drum solo halfway through the third track.

A lot of the band's sound is a clever reworking of other influential acts. The short acoustic intro immediately reminded me of the intro to Fight Fire With Fire though with a more romantic-era underpinning than Metallica could ever muster although Restricted Agony sounds like a less interesting throw-away song from Kill Em All right down to the Seek and Destroyish "ALRIGHT!." Vocally this one sounds much more like Bobby Blitz on Taking Over than Shelton or Peter Byford leading me to believe that El Rojo seems to still be finding his own style.

Although Thane of Cowder's opening riff reminds me of "Losfer Words" and other parts remind me of the chorus in Blind Guardian's "Don't Break the Circle," I find that the this and the next two songs are the strongest part of this album. Star Chaser - though somewhat Priesty in its naming and even more Halfordesque in its possible connotations) is catchy and easily singable. El Rojo's voice becomes more distinct at times during these songs. Midnight Rider continues with the memorable riffs and Priestisms.

Throughout this album though there is no doubt about what era Metal Inquisitor wished they were in. The entire album reeks of forgotten high tops, patched denim and leather, and mullets. Hell, Metal Inquisitor make me wish I was around during the heyday of metal. The album's title track is one of the best fist pumping and air guitar playing tracks I've heard in a long time. The last song on the album is a CD only track (the LP has an LP only track) with a guitar tone that I would compare to AC/DC on The Razors Edge album.

Infamia is the "epic" twin guitar dueling track on the album. Legion of Grey, though the shortest track, Is impressive, masterful and lyrically iconic in it's fuck you, fuck the "easy way out" ideology. Logan's Run has some excellent sections though it could use some lead riff boostage. It has a great chorus and a great solo section but is thin otherwise. The inclusion of a sample mid song doesn't do much for me either but, it's not detrimental either.