I'm not sure if it is the summer heat or possibly the fact that i've been trying to psyche myself up for afternoon runs; but old thrash/speed metal stuff is what's keeping me sane lately. And here's a few gems from a rarely appreciated band from the UK who never fully got their due. Seventh Angel were a UK group who crafted some quality heavy music that straddles the lines of thrash, doom, and even a few folk elements. The closest band comparison one could probably connect them to would be fellow UK rockers Sabbat. Both bands seem to share the love of an epic song or two and the skill level of playing takes a backseat to inventive song craft. Even lyrically, there is that same sense of singing about "ye olden ways of the wynd", and more arcane texts that involve religious imagery and esoteric Christianity.
Seventh Angel certainly knew a thing or two about setting a mood...just take a look at the album cover for their first record The Torment. It's a swarm of bearded locust attacking people! Now, i can understand that it's cool for bugs to attack people...but whose idea was it to have these creatures bearded? Brilliant and hairy! But the strange artwork really fits with the doomy feel of this album...so technically, i can't really call Seventh Angel a thrash band due to lots of style shifting going on here. But that shifting of style never bogs down the band's style with clutter...it simply shows what great songwriters they were.
File under Atmospheric UK Christian Esoteric Epic Thrash Doom Metal, then.
The Torment is a great album that sort up sets the stage for the bands masterpiece Lament For The Weary. This is a concept album that is much more dark and doomy and crammed with amazing songwriting and loads of interesting twists and turns. The band really seemed to have up'ed the ante with this one and it pays off with some challenging, and well thought out metal...bordering on prog at many times (just as the wonderful cover art suggests)
Lovers of obscure metal...discover these treasures.
Seventh Angel - The Torment
Seventh Angel - Lament For the Weary
4 comments:
Question: what year was each album put out? Do you have any more info on them?
The Torment was released in 1990.
Lament For the Weary came out 1991.
I don't have too much more info except for the fact that one of the main members of Seventh Angel went on to be in the epic doom band Paramecium. (Whose album I will be posting some time soon).
AAAAH,YES!!!These 2 are perfect for a stormy Sunday afternoon in my neck of the woods...
Brings me back to my H.S. days. The artist for both those covers is Rodney Matthews. He's my fav. artist of all times.
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