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 One," 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?

I found Jesus

...In the bargain bin.  Well, not really, but I do find a lot of white metal CDs in there, which is close enough. Keep in mind I didn't get all of these at once (in fact some of them were purchased several years ago), but they were all bargain bin finds languishing in the to-be-organized-on-the-shelves-later pile, so they all get a combined writeup.

Barren Cross - Hotter Than Hell! Live (original Medusa press) - $2.00
Live album from the end of the Atomic Arena tour with lots of positive, feel-good stage banter. Of course, one can't bring up Barren Cross without mentioning Mike Lee's vocals, whose singing tone is probably as close to Bruce Dickinson as humanly possible. Never found their music to be overly Maiden-inspired, though. The guy introducing the band at the beginning is Pastor Bob Beeman of Sanctuary ministry.

Believer - Sanity Obscure (R.E.X. press) - $2.00
Believer - Dimensions (R.E.X. press) - $2.00
I can't remember where I got the notion from, but I remember before hearing them, I had the idea that the 2nd/3rd Believer albums were technical death metal rather than technical thrash. My first exposure to Believer was the Roadrunner At Death's Door compilation, so I don't know if that colored my perception (though the song there was from the 1st album). Okay albums, but they don't pique my interest as much as Extraction from Mortality.

Bloodgood - Rock Theater: Shakin' the World - $2.00
This is just a newer cheapo version of the 1990 Bloodgood Live Volume Two: Shakin' the World disc (ironically, I saw Frontline has reissued Shakin' the World and the first live volume with their original live shot covers recently). Not sure if the other versions of the discs have them (I'm doubtful), but there are minigaps between tracks here that really kill the live atmosphere.  I like a majority of the material on the first two Bloodgood albums when they were at their heaviest, but I'm not enough of a fan to get really excited over a live album. I will say that it's a decent mix of stuff from their first 4 albums, with only one song from their more lightweight 3rd album--although even some of their earliest stuff has a bit of a commercial side. 

Bride - Kinetic Faith - $1.00
Unfortunately, this is the band's first non-metal full-length.  Bluesy hard rock here with lots of Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith influence. They do the style well enough, but that doesn't help me, does it? On the plus side, the logo is kinda cool--wish they had used it for their earlier releases, particularly since the first two albums don't have real logos...

Deliverance - Learn - $3.00
With the abundance of flannel and the graffiti font of the album title, I was half-expecting Suicidal Tendencies emulation. The actual music is a bit of a surprise, as the speed of their earliest thrash releases is gone and they've gotten quite progressive. Imagine the poor man's version of post-The Warning era Queensrÿche, but with crunchy guitars that beef it up and make it more substantial. I'm neutral about this album--I initially feared this would be in the trendy '90s aggro/jump post-thrash vein, and thankfully it's not. The vocals are clean and the progressive nature of the music doesn't allow for start/stop riffage. But it doesn't really excite me either. The one exception is "Desperate Cries" (yes, the thrashiest song, no surprise there!) which has a main riff that is pleasingly reminiscent of the chorus part of "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

Die  Happy - Intense Live Series Vol. 4 - $1.00
You probably know the story. After Once Dead, Vengeance Rising dissolved, and Roger Martinez ultimately put out two more Vengeance Rising albums with a new lineup. While not anywhere in the Human Sacrifice league, they were still decent thrash releases. The other original Vengeance Rising members went on to...this. A sound full of grooviness and blues influence (the only straightforward thrasher they did was a reworked Vengeance Rising song--go figure).  As much as I dislike them, Die Happy's 2 studio albums had some semblance of metal. This, a recording of a mellow jam session, does not. I realize this is just a little live-in-the-studio EP, but it's pretty frightening when, comparatively speaking, one of the heaviest songs is a Petra cover.

Gnashing of Teeth - self-titled - $1.00 or $2.00 (don't remember)
Being groovy metalcore all of the time would be bad enough, but the band decide to throw in lots of  nu-metal (or should I say no-metal) sections and breakdowns. Yuck. Sadly, this is another case of wasted potential, as after a atmospheric intro with clean guitar and female vocals, "Pyro" starts out like it's going to be full-on death metal. Then the lame vocals begin and their usual style rears its ugly head.  It's especially maddening as there are some good growling vox that are used sparingly--in that one song they showed they had the elements to be a generic--if not decent--death metal band.

Living Sacrifice - Conceived in Fire - $1.00
Living Sacrifice - The Hammering Process - $1.00
I knew these guys had changed drastically over the years, so these didn't come as a surprise. Both albums are metalcore, with no traces of the band's earlier sound.

Slamcat - El Gato De La Slam - $1.00
Groove metal. I'd like to think I'm not the type of person who would buy a CD that has a glow-in-the-dark cat with a rockabilly haircut on the cover without good reason.  I can't remember if I saw this, looked it up online, and then purchased it, or just bought it outright because it didn't look mainstream and I needed to buy 4 dollar bin discs to get a free one. Nothing I needed to hear here, although the uptempo "S.S.C." ("Sunday School Cool." Yes, really.) is a fun little ditty that deviates from the band's normal formula.

Various - East Coast Metal - $2.00
One of several white metal compilations put out by Regency, from 1988. As far as I know none of the tracks were from regular albums and were all either demo tracks or exclusive recordings (aside from the Believer track, I'm unaware if any of them were later put on reissues).
Apostle - "The Sword" - Best song here.  Galloping traditional metal. 
Rage of Angels - "Reason to Rock" - Two of these guys went on to Steelheart, and it quickly becomes apparent that wouldn't have been a huge musical stretch for them. Heavier than typical hair bands, though--maybe comparable to Skid Row's heaviest stuff. 
Arsenal - "Message of Love," "Stand Strong" - Same Florida band that later released Armored Choir.  Mid-paced, female-fronted, and reeking of commerciality.  The chick vocals are mostly clean, but she gets gruffer to emphasize certain lyrics (however, Betsy Bitch she is not).  There was a glimmer of potential, but they waited to show it--at the end of "Stand Strong" the tempo speeds up and there's some great shredding, but by then it's too late.
The Lead - "Tunnel Vision" - Thrashy crossover with an unexpected yet tasteful instrumental passage near the end. Goofy, semi-snotty female talk-singing vocals, though. She yells "Hey you" in the lyrics a couple of times, and I always expect there to be a "guys!" tacked on the end ala The Electric Company opening.
Taker - "Living By Faith," "Yesterday, Today and Forever" - "Living By Faith" is more galloping metal with helium-infused vocals and gang choruses. Nicely done. "Yesterday..." is a relatively uninteresting synth-laden ballad that sounds like an entirely different band!
Second Chance - "(Liberation from) The Blazing Wasteland" -  Pre-Armageddon.  A bit like early Savatage/Metal Church, although the the guitar/drum tone brings to mind Screaming/Defenders era Priest. The vocalist's normal singing voice even sounds quite a bit like John Oliva--he throws in some shamelessly over-the-top grunting and yelping, though it just can't compare to the fanastically OTT shrieks at the end of "Sirens."
Believer - "The Chosen" - Not bad by any means, but lacks the bite of the material from the debut.