Twenty-seven years ago, Deliverance recorded a follow-up album to their spectacular debut. Let us be clear, Brethren and Sistren, Weapons was a thrash masterpiece. It earned unique distinction amongst metal purists as an epic release. The album was mixed by the legendary Bill Metoyer and produced by their then-new guitarist George Ochoa, and the results were stunning. Weapons was remastered by Rob Colwell at Bombworks Sound in 2008, and then remastered again by Cliffy aka J Powell at Steinhaus in 2017 for this Bombworks Records edition. Like any album that is high in demand, you keep pressing it, make some improvements, and it still sounds like pure gold!
I barely know where to begin with describing the attributes of this album. Fans will know this album inside and out. If you are new to the scene, or need a refresher, the title track had a video which got some MTV action. The two guitars going ballistic on “This Present Darkness” is definitely worth noting. The “Greetings of Death” track was originally from their early 1985 demo by the same name, and it was the fastest and heaviest material out there by a faith-inspired thrash band, beating out Tempest (Ohio) – Annihilation of the Wicked demo by about a half year. Midway through the album is a dark yet eloquent thrash ballad “23,” based on that particular Psalms passage. It was a ballad yet full of power and subtlety, a mix not easily found. Some of the songs are reminiscent of early Sodom, while others have the riffage-style of Slayer. But comparisons can be cheap, and Deliverance has forged their own sound, which gives them a matchless status as they approach thirty-two years of being a band! Can you say AMAZING?!?
What warms my heart with Deliverance is that this band has been around longer than any other band playing Christian thrash, bar none. Their were some albums that veered towards alt metal in their career, but the solid guitar sound was always there. I recognize that Believer still does albums but not as consistently. And Tourniquet may be a solid contender, but they did not get out of the starting gate as early on as Deliverance. The real clincher is that Deliverance’s new album, The Subversive Kind, is a bonafide cruncher, and freakin’ incredible at that!! Any band that can pull off brilliant metal for over thirty years, unswerving in their convictions, is an enigma in my mind. Thank you to Jimmy Brown and to all the amazing people who have contributed to the legacy of Deliverance. God Speed!
[2017 Bombworks Records | Purchase: boonesoverstock.storenvy.com]
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