Ascend from the Cauldron

This is amazing USPM that is extremely underrated compared to its peers. Some of the songs are pretty up-tempo, and it might also be described as “speed metal” at times, but it’s generally not too thrashy except for “Deliver Us From Evil”.

Lead vocalist Ski is the one that gets the most attention from this release. He not only has an impressive vocal range, but creates songs in and of themselves with his amazing vocal melodies that bob and weave through multiple octaves. The high pitches and scale runs that are hit towards the middle of “Silent Madness” have few peers in heavy metal music. Why a big-name metal band didn’t snatch Ski up and offer him a job I may never know.

The music is also quite good, but not as well-developed as, say, Fates Warning. The guitars are also pretty good throughout without many exceptional stand-out moments. There are a lot of guitar harmonies and some clean guitar intros as well, to create variety on the album. The drums are pounding and enhance the songs with some nice patterns.

Highlights for me here are “Cry of Medusa”, “Salem’s Lot”, and “Deliver Us From Evil”. There are really no bad tracks on this album though. The final song, “Deadly Blessing”, is a fun straight-forward metal tune that is a celebration of the band itself and its awesomeness on stage. It really makes a great album/show closer. The lyrics to the song ring true as well … what other band is there that is better to “let out a scream if it makes you feel good” to?

This album is an easy recommendation for fans of Arch-era Fates Warning, early Queensryche, Lethal, or Steel Prophet.

Unique and originality are easily two words that come to mind when I think of Ascend From The Cauldron here. I think the former review noting a comparison to Helloween's debut Walls of Jericho is dead on, as it can probably be said that this album is like the US's answer to Walls of Jericho. The mid 80's German speed metal scene road along the boundaries of thrash, power, and traditional styles. All of which are elements that make up Deadly Blessing's debut here and compared to what most of the US was doing at the time, there's honestly not a lot of comparisons that can be made to this release and style. Possibly Tyrant Reign's Year of the Tyrants and maybe Liege Lord's classic Master Control (with a more 'epic' flavor here), but other than that, this is definitely an excellent example of pure power/thrash done well.

The only real downfall to the whole album could essentially be vocalist Ski, because of the way he sings. His vocals are for the most part spent in the higher zones and he really likes to stretch out a lot of long notes with shrieking that's all over the place. Personally this doesn't bother me too much but I do have to admit even as someone who loves the shriekers out there, these vocals did take a bit getting used to. On a few tracks like Cry Of Medusa and Deliver Us From Evil Ski gives off a more varied performance and it's really a bit disappointing that he wasn't this diverse on the majority of the album, because he is truly a top notch singer when he uses a lot of his range. But hey, if you're in the mood for some nonstop shrieking and long soaring wails that seem endless this can be quite a fix for that (there's a few times when Ski hits high notes you wouldn't even imagine). So the vocals here are probably something you'll either love or hate.

As with their sound and direction here, the production and mixing is also really unique. The majority of the album does have a bit of a dark vibe to it giving it a good deal of an aggressive attitude or perhaps I should say an 'epic touch' at times. The guitars are incredibly thick while the leads and solo's come out crystal clear, almost mystical sounding at times. And this album is filled with some insanely awesome solo's and melodies. Drums are very heavy and demanding, while Wayne Kellie displays a great amount of diversity and skill with the drumming itself. The bass stands out quite a bit at times too especially during some slower and softer sections (intro for Silent Madness). All in all I really have to commend the mix and production here because this album just wouldn't be the same if it were any different. It's a very heavy and rather dark mix that fits the style perfectly.

For the most part this entire album is pretty consistent, with the exception of Mindbender and the self-titled track Deadly Blessing somewhat losing the epic atmosphere. Even so, the songs are still very enjoyable and don't necessarily lower the experience. Deadly Blessing sounds like a tribute to heavy metal itself with some definite NWOBHM influences, a very catch and fun track. Above all though I'd probably have to say the middle of the album is its peak, with tracks Cry Of Medusa, Deliver Us From Evil, and Silent Madness easily being the most powerful songs on here. Opener tracks Search And Destroy and Salem's Lot (incredible dual harmonies on this one) are up there too however and really setup what to expect for the rest of the album pretty well.

It's kind of a shame that Deadly Blessing ended up being another band to fall through the cracks a bit and not getting a lot of recognition. Losing vocalist Ski for their 1990 EP Psycho Drama was a bit disappointing, new vocalist Larry Betson just wasn't quite as good. It seems that more thrash influences came in too and well, it just wouldn't be the same as Ascend From The Cauldron. That can be said for their new material also. Regardless, they gave us this amazing debut that any 80's fan should definitely look into. It'd truly be hard to define power/thrash any better than this.