Ever notice how musical genres recycle themselves? What was once out of style evolves into "retro" and eventually becomes the stylish thing once again. Metal is no exception to this rule, and Usurper has stuck to its roots and helped revitalize the extreme spikes 'n' leather metal genre that was popular back in the late 80s and early 90s. Hold on, though -- we’re not talking those pop-forty glam bands that dominated the radio! When vokillist Diabolical Slaughter and guitarist Rick Scythe first formed this metal outfit in '92, metal was certainly ostracized...but the band persisted and is now one of the leaders of this newfounded metal revolution.
Finely tuned, discernible riffs have always been at the forefront of Usurper's sound. Each song prides itself on introducing an almost immediately apparent and exceptionally brutal and burning riff that guides the rest of the song. From this metal methodology, Visions From the Gods compiles rare live and unreleased material that documents the band's origins and intense live shows. "Soulstalker '96" unleashes a fury of hyper-speed drumming that explodes into a cacophonous display of thrashing guitar lines and bleeding, guttural vocals reminiscent of Celtic Frost. Unlike many metal bands who hastily blurt out line after line of unintelligible lyrics, Usurper combines a certain punk ethos with gruff and sinister vocals that are not only audible, but can capably lead the band through maximum metal penetration. "Blood Passion (Live '98)" has follows its campy pre-song vocal acrobatics with a mid-tempo, Sabbath-inspired guitar opening that picks up speed and launches into an unbridled thrash-fest.
If you drove your brother crazy playing metal track after metal track as you drove to school each day, or if your morning ritual consists of a hearty bowl of metal ‘n’ milk, the sounds of Usurper are not merely comforting in their familiar retro-metal fashion. They also command your attention with prescribed quantities of scorching guitars, tightly-wound drums and a full-bodied, gruesome vocal onslaught sufficient to slay even the most stalwart metal enthusiast. The band members' names may be a bit ridiculous, but if you take that as a reason to pass over this CD, you'll miss out on exhuming a corpse of metal-past that's ready to stalk your neighborhood.
