Burnt Offering
Burnt Offering

Sometimes, it happens that it's not the best who stay, but only the luckiest.

I think of many prominent bands in today's metal scene that now merely get by more from reflected glory than anything else, cunningly capitalizing on the good they sowed ten or twenty years ago, mixing and remixing the same riffs, the same melodies, the same lyrics to the point of absurdity.

Other times, fortunately, you get to listen to albums completely unknown to most, fished out from the depths of unsuspecting years, which still manage to amaze today with the originality of their sound.

Other rare times, even more fortunately, you happen to have in hand the vinyl of one of these albums, which I thought was now unavailable even on CD (and which I recently discovered is actually available, although under a different title).

I'm talking about the self-titled debut of Burnt Offering (reissued in 1998 with the title "Death Decay Complete", featuring the demo versions of 7 tracks). As far as I'm concerned, it’s an almost masterpiece of early thrash/death metal. It was 1989, and I was just turning twenty (I remember buying the vinyl right after "Beyond The Gates" by Possessed, which had been released the year before: what a time!). I went into the store, listened to what was playing on the speakers at that moment (it was the first track of this album), and headed to the counter without a shadow of a doubt. "I want this", I said, pointing to the speakers.

A bit of brief (indispensable) history. Burnt Offering formed in Chicago in 1987, and by 1990 they were already supporting bands the likes of Death, Dark Angel, Kreator, Coroner, Sacred Reich, and Candlemass; moreover, they were the ones who introduced Sepultura for their first American date in Chicago. Not exactly bottom of the class, then (and it's a bit of a shame they are never mentioned in any article about the early days of death metal; their first demo is from 1987, the same year Death debuted with "Scream Bloody Gore" and Morbid Angel with the primordial "Abominations of Desolation"). Even if we cannot define "Burnt Offering" as 100% death, (there are many thrash mixtures), it's a crime that immediately after this no other works followed, which would certainly have allowed them to mature and reach much higher levels. It seems that misunderstandings with the record label (Chicago's Walkthrufyre Records, which shortly thereafter closed its doors) and other unspecified problems caused the band's breakup in 1990. After the reunion, which took place seven years later, the CD "Walk Of The Dead" (1998) was released by Modern Day Recordings, which I will try to get as soon as possible. But let's get to the album.

The vinyl starts with "Kick Your Dirt," a six-minute-plus barrage that begins with such a granite guitar and drum riff that it foreshadows something that cannot fail to leave its mark. Because more than heavy, claustrophobic, cadenced, and obsessive riffs, Burnt Offering are pure unchecked rage. Indeed, shortly thereafter, Hal Shore's explosive voice erupts, a murderous scream of total hate that hurls the listener into a whirlwind of overwhelming fury. It's not growl, but ferocity screamed directly into the skull. The whole song reflects what the rest of the album will be: a river of speed, double bass, and killer riffs. The drums are visceral (don’t expect Mike Portnoy!), raw, violent, but absolutely enjoyable and varied (unreserved kudos to Mitch), as are the guitars in all the tracks that follow. The overall technique leaves something to be desired, sure, but the same can be said of many other "excellent" or almost excellent debuts: I think of Kreator, for example: bare-bones technique but overflowing with damn violence.

After such a devastating opening, "Leatherface" (which, a few seconds in, expands with a chilling scream and heart-stopping drums) continues worthily on the same tracks, serving us in succession  "Prisoner Of War" and "Snow Death," the latter of clear thrash filiation.

"Power Of Death" starts with a sort of funeral march (considering the title), oppressive enough to then develop into an almost hardcore sound interspersed with riffs as heavy as boulders. "Beware The Axe" is probably, along with the first track, one of the best tracks on the album, a real drill in the gums. "Desecration" (a two-and-a-half-minute instrumental, except for the mephistophelian scream in the middle part of the track) introduces "Slaughterhouse Grizzle," another outstanding song of clear thrash derivation (and what thrash: listen to believe!) that will make you bang your head against the first wall you find at home. It’s followed by "Black Blasphemy" and "Graphic Violence" (where one legitimately wonders how Hal manages to catch his breath between one scream and another) and the final "Pure Fuckin' Death" (P.F.D. in the 1998 version), a merciless hit straight into the eardrums.

The production is of good quality, even spot-on: the sounds come out crisp and well defined but, at the same time, sufficiently raw and direct (in my opinion superior in quality to other similar releases from that period). The entire album consistently showcases more than good quality, especially when compared to the period. Obviously, don't expect Nile, but neither melodies nor slackening: while remaining recognizable and well-defined (a quality that many current works lack), all the tracks make this platter a single block of stone that, indeed, I truly hope might soon weigh on your players. My only critique is directed at Jim Martinelli's (lead guitar) performance, which in the solos is tied too much to the same sequence of notes, always very fast but a bit too repetitive. But it's a venial sin: Burnt Offering did not want to go down in history but only to make us smash walls with our heads, and, I swear, despite nearly twenty years of (undeserved) oblivion, they still manage excellently.

A word of advice: feel free to select the "repeat all" on your cd player, set the volume just below the distortion limit, keep everyone away from the house, and get ready to scream PURE FUCKIN' DEATH!!!

Tracklist

1 Kick Your Dirt

2 Leatherface

3 Prisoner Of War

4 Snow Death

5 Power Of Death

6 Beware The Axe

7 Desecration

8 Slaughterhouse Grizzle

9 Black Blasphemy

10 Graphic Violence

11 Pure Fuckin' Death (P.F.D. in "Death Decay Complete")

Bonus tracks included in the 1998 reissue titled "Death Decay Complete"

12 Leatherface (demo)

13 Desecration (demo)

14 Black Blasphemy (demo)

15 Prisoner Of War (demo)

16 Beware The Axe (demo)

17 Power Of Death (demo)