Three decades have gone by since original material has been heard from the pioneers of death metal, Possessed. That’s a long time in anyone’s book but there’s an entire story behind that which we won’t go into detail here for those that don’t know the unfortunate events but for someone like Jeff Becerra who went through what he did and come out the other end stronger than ever, but also to put out what might very well be considered their best album to date is a feat all in itself.
Possessed may not quite be the death metal household name that others such as Cannibal Corpse, Obituary or Morbid Angel may have gotten over the years but those who know the genre well will no doubt be at the very least, vaguely familiar with the band. While many notable names including Chuck Shuldiners’s Death has the reputation as been a pioneer and near on kickstarting the whole death metal genre, it was Possessed who was really there from the start and took the early forms of extreme metal like Venom and Bathory to all new levels. I’ve always closely regarded Possessed in the range of what early Kreator, Sodom and Vader were doing, thrash metal but in a heavier fashion and that essentially is what death metal was before the more technical stuff started coming through in the 90’s. Like a lot of extreme metal, death metal just upped the aggressiveness of it all and gave you a serious blow to the inner ears.
My recent chat with Jeff himself was an eye opening experience for sure as he told his story and how this new album “Revelations Of Oblivion“, 33 years in the making came to be. Is it any good though? Well one of the first things I told Jeff was how blown away I truly was by the sheer quality of the songs on offer. The lead single “No More Room In Hell” kicks things off in unadulterated old school metal fun as Jeff screams his way back into the realm of the heavy music world. Fast paced, energetic and just plain fun! It’s as if the band never skipped a beat. Granted this is a different band now with an all new lineup which has seen members come and go over the years in an almost unending quest to find the right set of people to make this work. But ultimately Jeff has settled for something that does click very well and it shows in the music and the performance.
“Dominion” is more of a thrashy track and “Damned” is a frenetic ball of energy with blazing guitar work and drum fills that rival anything today worth their salt. While this is all considered straight up, no frills death metal, it’s not the cookie-cutter stuff that’s so normalised these days and not many bands do it. Death were a somewhat example of that back in the day of course but even bands like Obituary and certain Morbid Angel songs simply didn’t rely on the gutteral styles that have become a staple in death metal. Here Jeff sounds like he always does, subtley gutteral, but still vicious and scorching in it’s own way.
The album does not waiver one bit as far as quality goes, every song here is jam packed with every nuance, every riff and every part needed and used to it’s full extent where possible. Even on a song like “Demon” where the band step off the gas pedal for just a bit to switch it up and go for a sludgier tempo but at the same time, still crank into more gear changes than a F1 race car. Same with “Omen” where the speed element takes a backseat to let things just breathe a bit but of course it’s not too far from tracks like “Abandon” and “Shadowcult” where things kick back into fast paced action again. It’s these dynamic changes within the songs and from each track that really seperate this album from their previous work. Call it maturity, experience or simply a need to keep it all fresh and interesting, Possessed really keep the engines running hot in every track.
Just to go in the other direct for a moment however, “Ritual” shows the early extreme metal influence coming through that has a bit of that early black metal sound through-out. It’s a pretty intense song and again, just shows you how powerful the band are sounding on this thing. For a highlight though, it’s hard to get past “The Word“. OK so the thrash metal fanboy in me will always lean towards that sound but boy does this take the cake as far as epic metal stuff goes. That ending…seriously!
“Revelations Of Oblivion” is also filled with a few intro/outro pieces to give the whole thing some form of structure, a real album’s album if you will. And even from the killer artwork to the backstory of this thing, it just seems like it’s a perfectly well executed release, the kind of album that makes you excited again to get a copy of a new album. I won’t speak for all death metal fans in saying this is a historical album in and of itself but when all the puzzle pieces seem to just fit together like this with some absolutely brilliant music, even as just a fan of music you gotta appreciate all the work that has gone into this. But at the end of the day it is all about the music first and foremost and the verdict here is Possessed have returned big time in what may very well turn out to be the metal album of the year.
10/10
TRACKLIST
Chant Of Oblivion
No More Room In Hell
Dominion
Damned
Demon
Abandoned
Shadowcult
Omen
Ritual
The Word
Graven
The Temple Of Samael
