Salems Wych - Betrayer of Kings CD Review

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2007-04-27 : Steve Winno : Link
Man this was the shit. You think you know the full story because you know old Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer? You don't.

There were bands like Salem's Wych from the Midwest and Helstar from Texas and Savatoge from Florida. Lest just say you know the story the big labels let you know. The history accourding to the major labels afterthe fact where they twist the truth a littel and put a bow or skull or whatevewr it is they have to do to make the masses buy it.

Betrayer of Kings by Salem's Wych was one of the first of its kind metal albums. Listen there are a few songs(Never Ending Battle/All Hail To The Queen) where they have a sample of a choir with percussion (Can you say what influenced Black Metal from back in 86, you can't deny that). Then there is a growling vocal in the end part of Furors Reign which was so Death Metal before there even was such a thing, plus shredding guitar, divebombs, explosions all steeped in the cloak of Sabbathy riffs and the speed of Accept, Venom and Motorhead with just a bit of punk thrown in for seasoning.

Oh and do not forget to hear the vocal influences of Venom and the rolled RRRR here and there,classic.And the lower timbered singers voice. None of that casterated pig screaming shit here. Hell they were doing what would take Metallica's James Hetfeild another 5 years to do, sing lower like a man.

Sure the production is raw, the guitars a bit too tinney here and there, the drums don't crack with the sampled precision of a Bob Rock polished album, but this is a masterpeice of metal with it breaking more ground on one album than most bands will even dare to play in a life time.

If you want to know the true story of metal and thrash, black and death metal then grab this album and get a history lesson.

Why this band was not as big as Metallica, Slayer or Megadeth is a travesty to metal.