TORMENT – Tormentation

1984: thus begin the TORMENT of the German thrash underground! Figuratively speaking of course! Finally in 1987, the band went into the studio to record their first ever demo Bestial Sex; despite having no advertisement (only word of mouth promotion) they sold 2000 copies! Which is a good feat! However, this was only a glimpse of what was to become of TORMENT. 1989 brought about a brand new demo The New. This was brought to the attention of record label Steamhammer to take TORMENT onto their ranks. A little down the road, the band found themselves on the Wacken Open Air stage to play to 10s of thousands of drunken metallers! Wouldn't we all love to be there one day? 1991, Saw the release of Experience The New Dimension Of Fear... which was the first full-length release by the German metal bashers. A few years pass, and a few albums pass too. And now what do we have bestowed upon us? A new one! Tormentation, originally released as a DVD, but also available as a 20th anniversary double CD edition and also a 12" picture disc. This release (CD version) features a mpeg video clip of their opus Porn Casting. Despite my interest in the clip, my computer or the disc itself encountered a problem and was unable to open the video clip. So no info on that one! Also, the copy of the album I received was missing the second disc; this was supposed to be a double CD remember? But, whatever!

Let’s move on to the songs themselves, shall we? Opening up for us is a little intro entitled, Intro. A 6 second opus with only this little question: Are you ready for the Tormentation?" Followed by a chainsaw revving up. Original, not really, but we all get the point! Moving on! New World Terror, thrash at its best. Fast and to the point; They really are here to torment. Effective for getting a party started, bring on the beer is what I'm sitting here screaming. Despite the songs being a bit repetitive, despite the songs being a bit repetitive, despite the songs being a bit repetitive… okay you get the point... they are nicely accented by well written solos. For some reason when I listen to this album I don't think leather clad metal guy (looking at their pick, that's what they seem to be), I think plaid clad Punk-rockers. Their music has that punk/thrash feel too it that is so wonderfully mosh worthy! I'm trying my hardest to just sit still in my chair and not ram myself into my bedroom wall. That might hurt. They just have that effect on you! Let’s move on to the last track of the album, Heavy Metal Hooligans. Just take a guess of what this song is about. Yes we are all hooligans at one point in time; usually alcohol induced of course. But when you hear a song about it, you just think: "Are we really this dumb?". Answer: No, this song is just not good. There I said it! It would be a lot better without the "uhh huhhhs" after every chorus of "heavy metal hooligans". And to add onto the song, tracks 18-69 is just a repeat of the same riff. Over and over and over again! Until you get to track 69 which is a repeat of the chorus "heavy metal hooligans". I'm sorry guys, but that was a bit annoying! But other than the last track(s) being a bit of a bore, the album itself was pretty damn good! Keep it Thrash! \m/