FINAL AXE
BEYOND HELL’S GATE
2005 Retroactive Records
Purchase: Try eBay
Review by: Matt Crosslin
Classic metal album that has already seen a few re-issues. So why review it here? Isn’t the last re-issue already kind of old? Well, yes – and hard to find. Word is that Retroactive Records is going to re-issue it again, with an added twist: the programmed drums will be replaced by live pounding by Robert Sweet himself. If you don’t know who that is, you probably wouldn’t be interested in this album in the first place. But if you like good, classic, bone crunching metal – this is the release to get. Even if the re-issue doesn’t pan out, find a copy on Ebay or someplace – it is worth it.
Bill Menchen is a total shredder. You will bang your head to this. Originally recorded as basically a demo in 1989, it was pretty obscure until re-released on vinyl in 2004 by Steel Legacy. It was then remixed, re-mastered, re-everythinged in 2005 and released on Retroactive Records. And then it went out of print again – because it is that good (if you are in to metal).
So this review is here to just prep you for the eventual re-re-re-issue. Don’t miss it this time. Also look out for the follow-up album, Axe of the Apostles. Pretty cheesy, I know – but cheese is the cornerstone of metal that makes it so cool!
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