SACRILEGE Within the Prophecy LP BRONZE

RM 95.00


Hammerheart Records, reissue 2018, bronze vinyl, insert, Sacrilege are an utterly essential act in UK metal history for three main reasons: They were one of the first female-fronted outfits in Metal history (probably second only to the Belgians Acid), they were one of first thrash metal band on UK soil and they were possibly the first modern Doom Metal practitioners in England, predating the Doom Metal hordes of the early-90's. A truly important entity that managed to carve their own individualistic sound from the get-go with this abrasive Crust/Punk/Hardcore/Thrash ?Beyond The Realms Of Madness? that was their debut. "Within The Prophecy" continued consolidating their reputation as a less ordinary band the guys (and a girl) insisting on their hypnotic, monolithic mid-paced delivery without any unnecessary flourishes. Speed was out of the question, but one hardly needed it in this particular case as the band were the requisite antidote to the myriads of fast-paced riffmongers with which the scene had started filling in. The year is 1989, and Sacrilege's third and final opus is a fact. No change would have been perfect since the band had already established a fairly individualistic approach to the genre, with a loyal following... Well, there was no end to evolution, and here is the biggest surprise: this is a doom metal recording showing an obvious fascination with the works of the Swedish heroes Candlemass and Mercy, and of course the fathers of all things doom Black Sabbath. There is not much left from their ultimately charming, unclean, rough dirgy thrash, More energetic gallops appear to remind of the band's past glories, but the dark doom-laden riffage remains unperturbed by those deviations. It is doom at its most shining best, featering hymns that would have been killer songs even on "Nightfall" (Candlemass). It took a Crust/Thrashcore outfit to remember the glorious past of British Metal, and bring it up to the front in all its lustre. And not only, but even after all these years this album stands as one of the five finest products of the UK sizeable doom metal movement. It single-handedly elevated the doom consciousness in England in order to make acts like My Dying Bride and Cathedral possible. They could have fitted so well into the tsunami of Doom Metal practitioners that started a mere few years later... Some 30 years later Simpson and Co. are back, and although so far it's been only compilations of old material that have been released, one should rest assured that whenever she/he needs a guide to take him/her from the Realms of Crust to the Mountains of Doom, these veterans will rise to the occasion, and will provide a map for this road least travelled down to the utmost detail.