| Track by Track Review
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Disc 1
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Voyage to Nowhere
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Goat Horn
Coming in slow and super heavy, this has a real raw stoner metal feeling to it, but turned darker. That section peaks around the one-minute mark with just the bass remaining. It fires out into faster=paced Sabbath like doom from there for the entrance of the main song. |
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Alcoholic Faith
Fierce, driving and raw, this is a real winner. It has a couple changes, but overall is a pretty straight-ahead piece. |
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Eternal Quest For Eternal Happiness
Pounding and furious, this is another killer tune. I love the almost psychedelic rock element of the vocals here. The frantic instrumental movement later has some of the coolest passages of this whole first disc. In fact, as strong as the previous numbers were, this really ups the ante. There is a full-on Sabbath like movement later that is so tasty, too. |
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Shattered Dream
There is no letting up on the onslaught as this screamer pounds out with so much ferocity. While not any kind of change, this is effective. |
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Voyage To Nowhere
The fuzz-drenched introduction to this is trademark doom metal. That holds it for a time before it eventually shifts to a faster paced grind that serves as the backdrop for the vocals. This piece keeps changing and reinventing itself. The bass takes over for a time later as they move it into a smoking hot up-tempo instrumental movement. That section features some killer guitar work. That peaks and then gives way to a reprise of the earlier movement. One final instrumental section twist takes it from there to end it. |
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Wasted Warrior
Frantic, fierce and so crazed, this has some tastefully weird parts to it. The vocals are more growled. |
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Doom March
There is almost a demo quality to the opening of this number. As it becomes more of a full band thing that fades. This is a screaming hot extreme-ish metal number. It drifts into echoey space around the minute-and-a-half mark. That gradually ramps up in terms of noisy distortion. This is essentially an instrumental. |
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Bonus Tracks:
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Eternal Quest For Eternal Happiness (live)
The drums are too high in the mix on this recording, but it doesn't lack energy. |
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Voyage to Nowhere (Demo)
This demo version of the tune works pretty well, but definitely isn't as nuanced as the final take. |
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Hit (Demo)
I don't think this demo holds up quite as well. Still, it's not bad. |
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Alcoholic Faith (Ruff Mix)
I think I might actually like this better than the version that appeared on the album proper. |
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Disc 2:
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Storming the Gates
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Gates Of Oppression
As this second disc gets underway, it's obvious that the sound of the band has matured and the production has improved. This is another fierce stomper. It has some thrash and stoner metal vibes to it. |
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Rotten Roll
We get another pounding metal stomper. This has a slightly rawer sound, calling back to the first disc a to some degree. It's heavy, fuzz-laden and tasty. |
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To The Cliff
I really dig this cut. It has more of that maturity we heard on the opener. It's still pure metal and has a fierce mid-track jam. It's a real powerhouse. |
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Final Sentence / Finally Sentenced
This powers in with another classy metal texture and mode. The track goes through some cool twists and turns and the closing instrumental movement that I'm sure is the second half of the title has some great riffing and lot of class. |
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Storming In
Another fierce and raw metal screamer, this is on fire. |
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Fortress Doomed
This is a really epic piece. It has a pretty straightforward metal sound for the first half of its run time. It shifts to an ever changing instrumental movement from there. There are some great musical passages and along the road, and it even works out to neo-classical zones at times.
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The Last Force
Coming in driving and frantic, this has so much style as it gets underway. There is some killer guitar soloing on this thing, and the whole track works really well. |
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Re-Animation
There is a Black Sabbath kind of vibe at play as this gets underway. That track screams out after the introduction to more fierce metal. The guitar solo on this is pretty crazed and very cool. This is a cover of a song by Sacrifice. |
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Fate Strikes
While not a big change, this is another dynamic and dramatic metal screamer. It goes nuts right at the end. A false ending gives way to a short backwards-tracked reprise. |
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Bonus Tracks:
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Gates Of Oppression (Instrumental demo)
There is a great thrash meets stoner metal vibe to this thing. There seems to be some tape degradation on this at times. |
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Fortress Doomed (live)
With a screamed "storm the gates" at the beginning, this fierce screamer takes off from there. I'm not always won over by the vocals, but the driving musical arrangement is a winner. |
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Fate Strikes (live)
Not any kind of big change, this is another fierce live metal screamer. |
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Heavy Metal (Is The Law) (live)
A frantic and rather crazed number, the vocals really ruin this one for me. The bass on an instrumental section later is on fire, though. This is a cover of a song originally done by Helloween. |
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Disc 3:
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Threatening Force
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Drum Roll
This is, as the title suggests, a short drum solo. |
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Threatening Force
As this screams in, it's obvious that both the production values and maturity level of the music have been improved. I'm reminded quite a bit of Iron Maiden on this thing. The instrumental break feels a little like something Helloween might do. |
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Right Heavy Metal
Musically I like this mainstream metal stomper a lot. It has some great riffing and hooks. I'm not really enamored with the vocals on it, though. |
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Rise Into The Night
Another scorching hot metal stomper, this is better than the previous tune. I'm reminded a little of King Diamond on this for some reason. |
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Fate Strikes
The vocals are more on the raw side on this cut, and they work well. This is another powerhouse metal tune. The guitar fills are so strong here. |
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The Last Force
While not a big change, this is another solid metal stomper. |
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Bonus Tracks:
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Basement Booze (Demo)
Although obviously a demo, this rocks out quite well. The extended instrumental section on this is on fire. |
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Torture’s Too Kind (Demo)
Furious and rather raw, this works pretty well, even in this demo format. |
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Restless (Demo)
This has some tasty chops and good hooks. |
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Striker Strikes (Demo)
The guitar riff that starts this is so strong. Still, it's sort of an also-ran, but it is both a demo and a bonus track. |
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Contemplation (Demo)
Cut from much the same cloth, somehow this works better that some of the other demos here. |
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Condemned (Demo)
Now, this is heavy, raw and so doomy. There is a real extreme angle to it, too. This is probably the best demo track of the whole set. There are some killer twists and turns long this musical road. This thing is epic in scope, but also in length, running nearly ten-minutes. It's exceptionally heavy, too. |
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