Vengeance Rising - Once Dead (1990)
At the time of getting this from Roger Martinez (before they were officially releasing this in 1990) Vengeance Rising were ranked a favorite of mine! Next to Slayer of course. Once Dead was pretty interesting
to me. From going to a Thrash band and an album that had competed with any Thrash band of the genre, to a blues oriented Thrash album had it's moments but still remained a great release overall. The guitar sound they had previous
to this album on "Human Sacrifice" were much more raw and distorted. On this album, they seemed to be lacking the intensity they had but not necessarily leaving the brutality and intensity they executed. The vocals are
different here also. Some are almost a death growl while others have kind of a whiny tone but aren't annoying. After hearing this for yourself I would have to leave that for the listener to decide upon. Once Dead had some intense
tunes though! Frontal Lobotomy, Cut Into Pieces, Herod's Violent Death, and Arise are all what they are cut out to be and even shown maturity in writing this style of metal. A few of the other songs were slower and didn't execute
alot of energy but still remain songs that one can sit back and relax to until the next thrashing song hits you like a bullet! Not quite a
masterpiece, but comes pretty close to me! A must have for any thrash metal fan! --
Review by Shannon