Album Review (Obscurus Metalus): Nocturnus's The Key

Hey fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

I have to admit that many of you will immediately recognize the subject of today’s review. I had spoken about Nocturnus a mere 3 months ago, but since January always seems to start with an entry from the tome of Obscurus Metalus, and seeing as how this band is rather obscure, the two seemed like a good fit for each other. So, I decided to go back & give their first album a 2nd listen to, and thus it’s time to look at The Key once again. Go put on your spacesuit, get into your ship, and prepare for the sounds....of The Key. Let the review begin!

Background
Taken from Wikipedia:

“Nocturnus was formed in 1987 by drummer/vocalist Mike Browning following the breakup of his old band Incubus. The band was formed by Browning, former Incubus guitarist Gino Marino and former Agent Steel bassist Richard Bateman. The band eventually began working on material and added second guitarist Vincent Crowley. This first lineup recorded one self-titled demo in 1987. Crowley quit (going on to form Acheron) and was replaced by then-unknown 18-year-old guitar prodigy Mike Davis, who was also Marinos cousin. Bateman quit shortly afterwards to join Nasty Savage.

Nocturnus added new bassist Jeff Estes and a keyboard player, Louis Panzer, in 1988. Panzer's addition made the band unique in the death metal scene, and provided the band with an atmosphere that enhanced their increasingly science fiction themed lyrical content and image. This lineup put out the classic Science of Horror demo. In 1989 Marino quit and was replaced by Davis's long time friend and neighbor Sean McNenney. With both Davis and McNenney being highly technical players, their often dueling and very fast guitar solos became another focal point of the band.

In 1989, thanks in large part to Mike Davis's friendship with Morbid Angel guitarist Trey Azagthoth, the band signed to Earache Records. The band recorded their debut album, The Key with Tom Morris, which was released in 1990. The album, filled with a unique occult meets sci-fi concept (a blend of Browning and Davis's influences, respectively), virtuoso guitar pyrotechnics and space-age-ish keyboards, managed to become a death metal hit, spawning classic tracks such as "Standing In Blood" and "BC/AD (Before Christ/After Death)". It has gone on to sell 70,000 copies worldwide. It also featured backing vocals by former Mantas/Death and then Massacre vocalist Kam Lee.

Jeff Estes began developing a major drinking problem during the recording of The Key. This damaged his bass playing skills (Mike Davis ended up playing much of the bass on The Key) and was fired shortly after because of this. He was replaced by Jim O'Sullivan. With O'Sullivan on board, the band toured for The Key in 1991 in support of Bolt Thrower, and then embarked on the Grindcrusher tour with Morbid Angel, Napalm Death and Godflesh. O'Sullivan ended up not working out and he was fired as soon as the band's tours were over.”

Basic Description
Death Metal meets Science Fiction.

There have definitely been plenty of metal albums throughout the years that have surprised me, but none have ever surprised me much like The Key did. Death Metal is not the most artistic of the metal subgenres, with it’s growling vocals & sludgier (For the most part) instrumentation. Nocturnus’s first album does something different with Death Metal: you still have that genre’s vocal & instrumentation style, but this album has more going on. Thanks to the keyboard, Nocturnus has access to a new zone of music, full of sound & atmosphere. The band really harnesses the keyboard to create literal audio Science Fiction, and it permeates the entirely of The Key. Nocturnus also harnesses the power of Prog to a degree, although this aspect of the band is a little more subtle. You have to listen carefully, but a certain beat or two shows that the band is trying to do something more with one of the most aggressive metal subgenres out there. Quite commendable, if you ask me.

Best Track
Like I said during my overview back in October last year, I considered Destroying the Manger to be the best song of the album, but as I listened to the album again, it realized that it was my favorite song instead. The Key in it’s entirety is fantastic: from top to bottom every song balances Death Metal, keyboard, and Prog perfectly (Thought some might have an emphasis for one element over the others). Lake of Fire, for example, offers a great gateway into what Nocturnus is about on this 1st album. The opening track of The Key, Lake of Fire has each & every single element at play, and not one dominates over the other.

Lake of Fire

Destroying the Manger

Worst Track
If you’re more of a Death Metal purist, you’re probably gonna be turned off by the prog & keyboard aspects of this album (And this band in general). It certainly breaks the mold of what Death Metal is supposed to be, since keyboarding in Death Metal goes against the subgenre. I admit when I first listened to this album I thought it was odd, but as I got into The Key more, I found it to be a strange fit.

Overall Impression & Rating
The Key sounds like an album that can’t work, and to many it shouldn’t work.....but somehow it does. Somehow, the sci-fi stylings from the keyboard mixed with elements of Prog, and added to the Death Metal base, creates a record that’s incredibly unique. The atmosphere created by each of the songs is simultaneously bloodthirsty & ethereal, violent yet imaginative. I cannot tell you how awesome The Key is. You simply have to listen to it for yourself!

The Key gets a 10 out of 10. A Death Metal classic!

So that was my first review of 2017, covering an act that’s sadly become too obscure for it’s own good. Hopefully, this will spark some interest for you to seek out this band. Well, I’ve got another themed month for February, and it’s a doozy. See you next week!



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If you’re curious about Nocturnus, check out my overview I did a few months back. A link is provided below.

Metal Overview: Nocturnus

5 Albums I Forgot To Talk About in 2016

Happy New Year, fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

I know that greeting is slightly dated now, but I figured it was appropriate since this is my first post of 2016 (Excluding the update I did to my Korn overview). It’s ironic that I’m talking about last year, since it was a crapshoot for a good chunk of it’s runtime. However, the one area where it didn’t suck was music. Heavy Metal or otherwise, 2016 had a horde of great tunes, as evident by my top 10 album list I put out last month. As jampacked as that list was, there were still a couple records that fell through, and thus I didn’t notice them, or not pay much attention. Today I’ll talk about 5 such releases, and maybe you’ll like what you see. Enjoy!

1) Devin Townsend - Transcendence (Sample Song)

Okay, I should start that much of the albums selected for this list came from my top 10 album list of 2016, and Transcendence was the highest rated of the albums I picked. Ironically, I’ve talked about Devin Townsend once already back in 2015 during Kid’s month, and it’s insane that I’ve held off talking about the King of Prog for so long. The base album is great on it’s own, but this is one of the few times where each of the different editions offer something unique to the listener. It’s hard to describe a Devin Townsend release, as they’re all a different kind of musical experience. I’ll conclude with this one point: buy Transcendence!
 
2) Metallica - Hardwired...To Self Destruct (Sample Song)

Out of everything to come out in 2016, this is the one that surprised me the most. Metallica have long since lost their past credit, but late last decade Death Magnetic managed to get some of it back......only for Lulu to come out in 2011 & degrade their reputation even further. So when it was announced that they would have something come out in 2016, I admit I was rather hesitant to jump on the excitement bandwagon. Then the singles came out, and I admit they were fun. Maybe not like something from their glory years, but definitely not bad by any stretch. I haven’t listened to the whole album, but the tracks that came my way weren’t a waste of time. I’ll have to listen to this soon, and from there I’ll give you all a better opinion.

3) Pain - Coming Home (Sample Song)

Anyone who’ve met me personally knows I’m a big fan of Industrial music, metal or otherwise. Rammstein was my gateway into the subgenre, and since then I’ve discovered many bands I frequently listen to today. One of the more recent Industrial bands I’ve discovered (Coincidentally, I talked about this group briefly when I revised my Rammstein overview when talking about Lindemann) is Pain, helmed by Peter Tägtgren. Pain has made quite the name for themselves since the mid 90s, and with their 2016 release Coming Home, they continue to prove that they’re one of the best. The singles that came out definitely stuck in my head, but for whatever reason I didn’t really listen to this record until the past 2 to 3 months. It’s a good listen, and anyone who’s a fan of Industrial Metal from Europe will get a kick out of this.

4) Sodom - Decision Day (Sample Song)

Ironically enough, I had talk about this band during the 2nd portion of my “Summer of Thrash” event. In both of the reviews for that part, I talked about how much I loved the band, and with their 15th studio album released in the late summer last year (August 26th, if you were curious), this love continues on. I’m shocked that I didn’t talk about this record (Apart from my top 10 album list), as this release is fantastic! It’s really more of a hybrid record, mixing the speedier elements of Better Off Dead & Epitome Of Torture with the Death Metal styling of Tapping The Vein. The end result is a CD that has a little more variety to it than many of Sodom’s other releases, but at the same time doesn’t lord over other release. Make the right decision, and buy this album!

5) Rotting Christ - Rituals (Sample Song)

Although I’ve gained an appreciation for Death Metal & Black Metal in recent years, truth be told I’m still not a full-blown fan of either subgenre. Within Death Metal there are only 4 bands I like (3 I actually listen to, 1 I’m fond of more for historical purposes), and in Black Metal there are far less I enjoy. Some Darkthrone, a sprinkling of Mayhem, and just a dash of Emperor. Much like Septicflesh, Rotting Christ was a Greek band that took me completely. They were definitely extreme, but like their Death Metal counterpart, always tried to due new things across their discography. Released around mid-February last year (Making this release almost a year old), Rituals is no exception to the Black Metal/experimental attitude Rotting Christ had. They still pay homage to their homeland, but they expand their horizons to other lands like India. Rituals is a release that I only managed to appreciate about halfway/three-fourths through last year, but it’s one I hope you like immediately.

So there were 5 albums from 2016 I forgot to talk about. After talking about each of them, you’ll no doubt see then reviewed on the site. One in particular you’ll see very soon, but I can’t spoil thing yet. In the meantime, I might be able to get a obscurus metalus review out sometime during the rest of January. See you then!