Ahh, the infamous Nocturnus. Equally admired for putting out some high quality death metal, and reviled for their use of - SHOCK! HORROR! - keyboards in their death metal. To be fair, most of the hate was around the time they first hit the scene, and time has been kinder to their legacy in the realm of death. The Key and Thresholds are in particular a must for any extreme metal fans collection in my opinion, but their s/t EP is also worth a spin (if not criminally short). The two albums are original Earache Records pressings, and the EP is on Moribund.
I always say if there is one album that I wish I could of made, it's The Key. Onward To Golgotha is by far my favorite DM release, though The Key has everything artistically worth while in Death Metal: extreme complexity without sacrificing catchy riffs and fun. It's a masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteBig thumbs up for that. It's amazing how much shit The Key got back in the days, but I've always loved it - it's not like the keyboard are all Italian Power Metal fruity fruits, they just add an extra layer of awesomeness to what is already a great album.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of it having keyboards almost had more to do with it than the actual music. I mean when you listen to it, you can't help but laugh that anybody would be bothered by the least bit of synth. I mean me above anyone else is not a fan of synth, and I can't get enough out of The Key. Though like you pointed out; it's nice that time has been good to it. I'm pretty sure all who did not appreciate look back and can't understand themselves. It's a classic.
Delete