15 Of The Greatest One-Album Wonders In Metal!
One and done!
Repulsion – Horrified (recorded 1986 / released 1989) [USA]
Genre: Grindcore / Death Metal
Horrified is the big daddy of grindcore and the fact that Repulsion were virtually ignored – and saw their one and only album released years after they split – doesn’t mean shit; Horrified is grindcore and grindcore is Repulsion!
With Horrified, Repulsion gorily blended a festering mix of hardcore punk, metallic might and distorted riffs to create a beast barely recognisable as music. In the process, they fashioned an album still revered as a defining moment in the genre and at the very core of grind’s humble beginnings.
The production may be atrocious but tracks such as “Eaten Alive”, “Horrified” and “Black Breath” deliver carnage and cruelty with every shredding note.
Grindcore and death metal may not exist if it weren’t for this one and only milestone in underground extremity!
Ripping Corpse – Dreaming With The Dead (1991) [USA]
Genre: Death / Thrash
Featuring the considerable talents of Erik Rutan (later of death metal legends Morbid Angel and founder of the mighty Hate Eternal), Dreaming With The Dead remains the one and only full length album from the underrated Ripping Corpse.
Fearlessly fusing elements of groove, doom and thrash with a progressive flair for schizophrenic time signatures and razor-sharp technique, Dreaming With the Dead is quite the anomaly, standing proud on its own as an album of considerable skill and identity.
Ultra thrashy and brutal as fuck, Ripping Corpse may have failed to officially follow up this colossal release (their ‘lost album’ remains unreleased and unmastered but you can check it out here) but they made an indelible mark on the American death metal scene with Dreaming With The Dead!
Sanctity – Road To Bloodshed (2007) [USA]
Genre: Thrash
Sanctity initially turned heads back in 2007 with their modern yet faithful tribute to Testament, Powermad and Annihilator; thrashing hard while thrash’s recovery was still finding its feet.
In modern metal terms, while Trivium – at their thrashiest – are a solid comparison, Sanctity were never riding roughshod over land already covered by Matt Heafy’s men. Instead, they delivered their own, distinct, brand of updated thrash. Admittedly, Roadrunner Records may have hoped Sanctity would replicate Trivium’s success – and Road To Bloodshed certainly had the quality to do so – but sadly the paying public failed to cotton on to what a tasty slice of melodic thrash they had at their disposal!
This was a crying shame as while the title track steps scarily close to metalcore’s formula, the power/thrash-fests of “Beloved Killer”, the huge “Zeppo” and the razor-sharp melodies of “Beneath The Machine” (where guitarist/vocalist Jared MacEachern ably recreates the roar of Testament man-mountain Chuck Billy) should have been enough to satisfy hardened thrashers accustomed to a little melody in their thrash.
Sempiternal Deathreign – The Spooky Gloom (1989) [Netherlands]
Genre: Death / Doom
An extremely obscure release, Sempiternal Deathreign‘s only album is a shockingly underrated yet vital death/doom release that demands to be rediscovered.
While leaning more towards the death than the doom, openers “Creep-O-Rama” and “Resurrection Cemetery” mimic much of the death/thrash that reared its ugly head in the late 80’s with breakneck speed and bowel-loosening growls misleadingly omitting practically all doom elements. Stick with it though and this ‘lost classic’ truly elevates itself to must-hear status with its subtle introduction of doom on the simply awe-inspiring “Devastating Empire Towards Humanity”. It’s acoustic intro instantly brings to mind the likes of Candlemass before a classic doom metal riff – the kind Tony Iommi would have been proud to have penned – tuns The Spooky Gloom on its head and its pioneering death/doom intentions become clear. Interspersed with death metal speed, this epic flits between the two genres with consummate ease.
Way, way ahead of their time, Sempiternal Deathreign may be a mere footnote in metal history but The Spooky Gloom is one album that epitomises death/doom more then most.
Thergothon – Stream From The Heavens (1994) [Finland]
Genre: Funeral Doom
Thergothon were a highly influential Finnish doom metal band who single-handedly pioneered the funeral doom sub-genre.
Unnervingly raw and hideously bleak, their sound was painfully slow, sloth-like even, barely able to heave its leaden weight from one song to the next and Stream from the Heavens remains a catastrophic combination of crushing, plodding riffs accentuated by lead vocalist Niko Sirkiä’s death grunts (a vocal reminiscent of someone gargling concrete) and atmospherics that dripped with dread and despair.
On the odd occasion, often just before the point at which you are ready to end it all, Thergothon would throw some ambient noise into the mix, momentarily lifting you from your depression before rapidly reverting back to their signature, apocalyptic, sound; plunging you straight back into the abyss as the funeral dirge riffs engulf you once more.
Devastatingly depressing and not an easy listen but a unique, defining moment in doom metal history nonetheless.
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