The day God was not with me: Believer - Extraction from Mortality (1989)

Cost: $1.00

 

As an avid used CD hunter, I've had my share of triumphs (some to be blogged about shortly).  This was one of my biggest disappointments.  Why, you ask?  Let's go over what happened in my head:

The spine is sighted on the rack.

Oh, Sanity Obscure is in the bargain bin.  Already have it, but it's cheap, so that's cool.  I'll pick up an extra copy to trade or sell.

I pull it out and look at the cover.

Hell yeah!  Extraction from Mortality!  I need this!

Wait...

WHAT?

 

Yeah...The booklet was for Extraction, but the back insert was for Sanity (creased down the middle, no less).  I went through the bargain bin a couple times, hoping to see the correct back insert with a Sanity Obscure booklet, but no luck.  On the plus side, the disc inside was Extraction from Mortality, so at least I got the music with the correct booklet. This had always been a minor want I was hoping to find in a bargain bin--it would have meant I got all 3 of the first Believers for dirt cheap), making the initial letdown worse.

 

Getting to the actual music, this is my favorite Believer release. By far. Even saying that, it doesn't come anywhere close to being one of my favorite thrash recordings, but it's still pretty good.  Despite the technicality here (though nowhere near as much as the succeeding albums), it's still fast and furious with a lot of bite. The vocals are a little shoutier than what I normally prefer, but not terrible. In fact, the vocal style coupled with the type of thrash they play reminds me of little bit of Devastation's Idolatry. 

 

They never really cross over into death metal territory, but the album often seems right on the cusp of being death/thrash. I've mentioned this before, but the first time I heard Believer (on the R/C At Death's Door compilation), I think I assumed they were some sort of death/thrash or death metal, since that's how I thought about them early on, and they didn't seem significantly different than the other bands. In fact, they fit quite well considering Sadus and Exhorder were also on there. I don't remember what I thought of their track back then and my only specific memory of them from the comp. was thinking Joey Daub's side-shave in the thumbnail band pic looked weird. Listening now, the song they chose for the comp., "Not Even On," isn't awful or anything, but there's much better stuff on the album.The first three tracks are all great ragers, and I love the eerie intro of "Shadow of Death."

 

P.S.  Anyone got a spare back insert for the original R.E.X. pressing?  And does anyone need a spare back insert for the R.E.X. pressing of Sanity Obscure?