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Altar: Youth against Christ

30/11/11 || Habakuk

How can I possibly have missed this until now? Altar’s first album is a true gem of Dutch old school death metal – not of the kind that is associated with the label today, but more Florida influenced stuff from 1994, around the time of their fellow countrymen Sinister’s epic Hate album. That kind of old school death, where Ubersatanism was still a usable chliché if you sounded a bit like Deicide (it’s worn off by now, no matter what Vital Remains are trying to tell you) – and this shit actually is hilarious. Who can’t relate with an album name like that? I’d get a shirt with that slogan. Plus, it’s backed up by titles like “Cauterize the church council”, “Hypochristianity” (hah!) or “Divorced from God”. What do you mean, “over the top”?

And yeah, I didn’t just namedrop Deicide because of their lyrical Satan!! focus, but also because they’re a close musical relative, even though Altar is a bit thrashier in sound. So don’t you mix this up with the big Dutch acts like Asphyx, Pestilence or their follow-up formations, okay kids? But actually, if you’ve heard Thanatos, you will find some similarities. You can strike the line in that review about “not sounding similar to any other one album I’ve heard from the era” now, by the way.

ENOUGH OF THE COMPARISONS, CAN’T WE JUST DISCUSS THE ALBUM AT HAND!
Yes, yes, crowd – but you know, context is important. What we get with “Youth against Christ” is first class downtuned sharp riffery underlined by very focused, double-bass heavy drumming. Every superfluous fuzz or reverb around the guitars and drums is trimmed of (and bass guitar is trimmed off completely), which gives this a very precise feel. And with most songs longer than 5 minutes, there is definitely enough room to appreciate the great riff work ranging from fast thrashing to the classic Dutch doom chug. The song structures almost have that Time does not heal / “One more riff!” – vibe (STOP!), but thankfully the vocals are not as terrible as on that one. Mr Kelder in fact has a good, somewhat comprehensible shouting growl that works well with the church hate on display.

It’s hard to pinpoint weaknesses here. Okay, the production is a bit low, but otherwise really good and balanced (my recommendation: use volume button), there is a short cheesy 2-note riff in “Divorced from God” (around 3 minutes in), and a bad vocal effect somewhere in the second half of “Jesus is dead”, but apart from such miniscule details, everything sits firmly in place and you can basically jump start into this album from anywhere and won’t be disappointed – given you like good ole Floridian death metal. Choice cuts include “Throne of fire”, The (early) Monstrosity-like smash hit “Divorced from God” or “Cauterize the church council”. Or others. With no stinker in the roster, it’s somewhat explainable (and forgiven) that the album doesn’t really hold up that well on multiple repeated listens in a row, just because the material blends together. Does not matter, I say! This here is one rock solid album with deviations into full blown awesomeness, so kindly check it the fuck out.

Information
Released: 1994
Label: Displeased Records
Website: Altar MySpace
Band
Edwin Kelder: vocals
Marcel van Haaf: guitar
Nils Vos: bass
Bert Huisjes: guitar
Marco Arends: drums

Tracklist
01. Intro
02. Throne of fire
03. Jesus is dead
04. Divorced from God
05. Hypochristianity
06. Forced imprudence
07. Psycho damn
08. ‘Cross the bridge of false prophecies
09. Cauterize the church council

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