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Class 6(66)

Massacre: From beyond

12/01/12  ||  Habakuk

Introduction

A disc with an almost legendary reputation, this album is a compulsory inclusion in this section of GD, but I feel it needs a little disclaimer: Though I’m a bit too young to give you insights about the circumstances of its making, it’s clear to see/hear is that this material can hardly be rightfully compared to the stuff that was around when the album was actually released, 1991. Demo versions of many of these songs reach back at least until 1986, partly even 1984, to the first Death demo, Reign of terror. So detract five to seven years before this full-length actually hit stores, and you’re getting the right mindset for taking this in: Judging the historic importance of the songs at hand, this has to be considered, otherwise one could come to the conclusion this album was simply late – Bands from Asphyx to Malevolent Creation were already ringing the bell for the next round of genre releases, and some, like Suffocation, even for the one after that.

Why am I saying all that? Is this, after all, not really good? Am I in fear that you’ll come out a little underwhelmed? Yeah, that actually might happen. That is, if you’re not interested in old school death metal at all. If you take a liking in the genre, I assure you this release is something you should get your greasy fingers on. You probably have already.

Songwriting

Rick Rozz is credited for all music on “From beyond”, and consequently, the songs are pretty much what would have come out after say, three or four times, if early Death had contented themselves with writing “Scream bloody gore” over and over again. “Corpse grinder” actually is a genuine Death song, and it doesn’t seem out of place in the slightest. After all, it’s still the same simplistic structures, straightforward to the bone 4/4 riffing and a constant foot on the pedal, with songs segmented by half time parts or slower open chord sequences. Yeah, this ain’t exactly the rocket science approach to writing metal, but the basic framework is pretty much perfected with lots of great riffs fitted into it and works fine until this day. The sheer effectiveness of the songwriting defies description and is really the one thing everyone should keep from this album. Maximum effect by minimal means. Choice cuts include “Cryptic realms” with tons of killer passages or the headbang-inducing “Defeat remains” with a generally slightly slower pace. 8

Production

No problems here. Sure, bass takes a backseat and there is not much punch behind the drumming, but what’s important is that the guitars are allowed to shine as the kicks are snappy enough to not blur their proceedings. In general this is probably one of the few actually clean and balanced sounding recordings of song material from the earliest stages of Floridian Death Metal. 8

Guitars

Historical gibberish aside, this is where the magic happens, regardless of time (and space). If there ever was a text book on how to write great, simple death metal riffs, it would probably be a stone tablet and feature the tabs for these songs in cuneiform writing. With great grooves and very confident, flawless playing, Rick Rozz linked the simplistic, at times clumsy early genre output with what was to follow, and the results are catchy high speed shredfests that are pretty much guaranteed to send heads a-bangin. It’s really pointless to point out individual riffs here, as a lot of them are nigh unbeatable. Listen to any continuous 2-minute sequence and you’ll find one, at least. 9.5

Vocals

Kam Lee has a pretty sick, guttural roar on this album. He’s always sort of comprehensible, but something about his performance makes this seem pretty damn brutal. The guy is said to have invented death metal vocals, and I can totally see why others would follow in his footsteps. His thick growls sounded fucken ace. 9

Bass

Ba… Bas, oh yeah, Bass! Terry Butler, the undisputed master of following the guitars does exactly that. All the time. No wait, “Symbolic immortality” has a few seconds of exclusive bass. Way to go man! Sometimes you hear a faint twang shining through the guitar wall, but most of the time their shredding just buries poor Terry and his four strings (I don’t know how many he uses here, but there is definitely no need for a fifth) of dess. 5

Drums

This is my major gripe with this album. Bill Andrews’ playing is solid, but nothing more. The rudimentaries are covered, but also due to the more “refined” production you’ll notice pretty quickly that this is all there is. The guy would just play the same thrashing beat riff after riff, and the coolest thing he seems to be pulling off is a variety of snare rolls. Granted, he does use double bass and has a few pretty cool moments, but especially his footwork is sloppy as all hell at times. The problem with me was, that I my first contact with this album was a Blood Red Throne (of all bands) cover of “Cryptic Realms” – boy did it piss me off that the original drumming was so _un_original. A shame, really, because it gave me a rather unfair angle towards a more or less old school album, but that’s how it is. And 1991 wasn’t the Stone Age, after all. Anyway, if you’ve discovered these guys in another way than me, you might just not care. 6

Lyrics

The blueprint for that “mystical evil” sort of death metal lyrics about netherworlds, chaos, torrid bodies sent through ages, curses of the damned and so forth. Cool but inane. Oh and there’s the “Succubus”, harlot of death, which steals the liquid of life from the beds of men. Succ-ubus! GET IT? Well, for historical justice: 8

Cover art

If everybody from beyond looks like a retarded four-fingered half insectoid, I’m not going anywhere near that black shithole. Ed Repka is responsible for this (never was a big fan, personally), and the re-release is blue instead of red. That’s all you need to know. Oh and it’s cheesy! 6

Logo

Not sure if I dig the 3D effect. Or the letters. No, this isn’t too good. 4

Booklet

I can only give you insights on the re-release version from 2000. Yeah, with the blue cover. Sorry. There are lyrics (those for the included and listed songs off the “Inhuman condition” EP are, curiously enough, not featured), a small picture (Bill Andrews wears a “Satan Jokers” shirt, a terrible French band whose biggest achievement was the inclusion in our Worst band names list ) and four huge thank you lists (with Jesus featured twice). An apparent second guitarist is not credited anywhere. And “Cryptic Realms” is falsely listed as “Cryptic Remains”. Superb job by everyone involved, especially the monkey. 3

Overall and ending rant

No, I don’t consider this album the best ever. That is because I don’t consider the super-early, primal type of death metal my favorite. If that were so, however, this album would be an absolute contender for the throne. Rarely have I heard the style executed so efficiently. “From beyond” retains enough of the juvenile grit (and to some extent, hilarity) of the mid-eighties, but puts it on a professional level in terms of skill and production, which is a pretty great mix. Others carried the torch from there onwards, but Massacre, with their eventual Earache deal and the resulting recording manifested a last pinnacle of stage one in death metal history.

8

  • Information
  • Released: 1991
  • Label: Earache
  • Website: Massacre MySpace
  • Band
  • Kam Lee: vocals
  • Rick Rozz: guitars
  • Walt Thrashler: guitars
  • Terry Butler: bass
  • Bill Andrews: drums
  • Tracklist
  • 01. Dawn of eternity
  • 02. Cryptic realms
  • 03. Biohazard
  • 04. Chamber of ages
  • 05. From beyond
  • 06. Defeat remains
  • 07. Succubus
  • 08. Symbolic immortality
  • 09. Corpse grinder (Death cover)

Class 6(66) -reviews

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