{"id":18145,"date":"2014-03-24T00:00:53","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T00:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=18145"},"modified":"2014-03-26T01:16:12","modified_gmt":"2014-03-26T01:16:12","slug":"album-review-massacre-back-from-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-massacre-back-from-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"MASSACRE – Back From Beyond (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MASSACRE
Back From Beyond<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nCentury Media (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I can hear the detractors already dismissing this one before it\u2019s even out. So, death metal vocal legend Kam Lee is absent from this record and that comes as a great disappointment when one considers just how great he made the band\u2019s 1991 debut From Beyond<\/em>, but hey, we can\u2019t dwell on what\u2019s been and gone. It\u2019s just good to have Massacre back because after the let-down that was Morbid Angel\u2019s Illud Divinum Insanus<\/em><\/a> (2011), we really began to crave another waft of old school death metal.<\/p>\n

Whether the effectively titled Back From Beyond<\/em> was going to be that thirst quencher was anyone\u2019s guess, but with so many people hung up on the exclusion of Lee it seemed that these Floridian stalwarts were doomed to fail. However, with Rick Rozz (guitar) and Terry Butler (bass) in the fold there was always going to be a high chance that Massacre\u2019s return would be one of note, and with Mike Mazzonetto on the drum stool I was eager for a listen.<\/p>\n

The main issue everyone had of course was whether vocalist Edwin Webb (who has been with the band since 2011) could cut the mustard filling in for such a behemoth of a vocalist, but one has to consider that Massacre\u2019s last line-up to feature Lee was that which lasted for only one year from 2006 to 2007, and before that we have to go back to 1996 for Kam\u2019s last album appearance with the awful Promise<\/em>. In reality, Massacre with someone else at the helm is not that big of a shock, especially when one considers just how many musicians have come and gone over the years.<\/p>\n

But let us concentrate on the music. Following the into track, \u2018The Ancient Ones\u2019, this opus kicks off with the catchy riffage to herald the entrance of \u2018As We Wait To Die\u2019, a pulverising yet accessible monolith featuring a fierce drum kick and Rozz\u2019s formidable chunky chords. Immediately Webb makes himself known with a deathly squeal, and then a mid-tempo act of guttural efficiency. It\u2019s a stable start to this 14-track affair, occasionally hinting at Deicide with its diabolical ranting.<\/p>\n

This is none more so apparent than with the pacier \u2018Ascension Of The Deceased\u2019, a maniacal head-cruncher featuring a killer solo and Butler\u2019s pummelling bass. In my opinion Webb is more than capable of filling the void left by Lee, and gives us a lesson in old school death metal vocal butchery remaining decipherable, despite the bellowing quality.<\/p>\n

A majority of the tracks on this 45-minute platter run for around three minutes. Musically, the band are quite comfortable shifting between mid-tempo range (\u2018Hunter\u2019s Blood\u2019) and sporadic faster segments (\u2018Sands Of Time\u2019), although for the most part the well-structured songs continue in the same vein with the riffs remaining heavy yet chugging steadily. The pivotal track for me is the brooding intensity of \u2018Succumb To Rapture\u2019 with its crushing opening groove and steady ascension of pace where Rick Rozz\u2019s guitar menace sounds as if it\u2019s quite literally been plucked from 1991.<\/p>\n

Other notable tracks are \u2018The Evil Within\u2019, with its effective vocal and mix of pace and lumbering menace, plus the bruising \u2018Beast With Vengeance\u2019 and the hammering title track where Mazzonetto seems to gallop off the Richter scale to the accompaniment of Butler\u2019s migraine-inducing battering bass.<\/p>\n

Diehard fans of Massacre need not worry about this returning beast. I personally never expected Back From Beyond<\/em> to match the debut classic \u2013 after all, that record is over 20 years old now \u2013 but to compare newer works of such a band is unhealthy. Let\u2019s just enjoy Massacre in this form, and long may old school death metal continue to reign in whatever shape it needs to take.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MASSACREBack From Beyond Century Media (2014)Rating: 8\/10 I can hear the detractors already dismissing this one before it\u2019s even out. So, death metal vocal legend Kam Lee is absent from this record and that comes as a great disappointment when one considers just how great he made the band\u2019s 1991 debut From Beyond, but hey, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-massacre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18145"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18149,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18145\/revisions\/18149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}