Metal | Speed metal | Thrash
70%
Deliverance—The Executioner (2004)
Details
Recorded and mixed at “Bob Studio”. Produced by Daniele “Gec” Rossi. Co-produced by Deliverance. Mastered at “Angel’s Pit” Studio by Angelo Gramaccioni. Released on Killin’ Time Records, 2004.
Band
- Andrea Fermani—Vocals and rhythm guitar
- Juri Ferracuti—Lead guitar
- Massi Ricci—Bass guitar
- Marco Bracciotti—Drums
Tracks
- Needle of pain
- The executioner
- Stone tears
- Dust rises high
- Deliverance
- We are not who we are
- Last cross road
- Tears of the universe
- Silence after the storm
Review
Another late review. I know, I know! But this time the, erm… firey demon on the cover of Metallica’s ‘Jump in the Fire‘ single ate my homework! (That and I had to reinstall Windows 8.1 on my PC over the weekend.)
Deliverance are, depending on who you believe, a thrash or speed metal band that hail from Italy, and are not to be confused with the German-Canadian Christian rock band of the same name who were around during the 1970s.
Immediate comparisons can be made with Su Ta Gar, a speed/thrash metal band from the Basque Country in northern Spain, as well as a handful of early thrash bands such as Overkill and especially Sacred Reich.
While Su Ta Gar sing all their lyrics in Basque, Deliverance sing in English but I find them hard to understand. I’m not sure if this is simply a style thing or whether the singer isn’t a native English speaker. But the overall effect is that the vocals add another texture to the music.
Production on the album sounds quite ‘clipped’, quite compressed. The guitars sound like they’re being played through my old Laney transistor amp, with scooped mids and not much ‘raunch’ or warmth that you get from a nicely overdriven valve (tube) amp. But again, I suspect this is a style decision rather than poor recording.
Conclusion
The songs are decent enough romps in the fashion that you would expect from a speed/thrash metal band. Nothing particularly stands out for me, to be honest. It’s a decent enough album but there’s nothing really that gets me excited or energises me. The executioner is clearly having an off day.
Certainly if you’re a fan of mid-80s thrash bands like Sacred Reich, or even Mordred or early Annihilator, then I expect you’d probably like this. It goes on my ‘to keep’ pile but more for the genre and the sum-of-its-parts than anything specific.
Review score: 70%