Exorcist
Nightmare Theatre

The Exorcist are nothing more than the dark side of New York hard rockers Virgin Steele, who authored two albums together with guitarist Jack Starr: "Virgin Steele" from 1981 and "Guardians Of The Flame" from 1982, obviously already reissued in a recently remastered edition, with added bonus tracks just to keep the money rolling (which have no legs but always run).

This platter with its moldy cover is their release valve, the malicious brood of songs that stands out in the heavy landscape of the time like a kind of Carrie/Sissy Spacek in the mood for mischief. After the first two Virgin Steele albums, released in full NWOBHM, guitarist Jack Starr left the band and took David DeFeis to court over the use of the moniker. Meanwhile, David had forged an alliance with future musical mischief companion Edward Pursino, already with the Piledriver. They couldn't record anything under the name Virgin Steele, so they reinvented themselves as DIY thrashers, recording an album in 1985, under the name Exorcist, that "Nightmare Theatre" which became a collector's item, a subject of investigation, research, mystery, disguises, and creepy myspace. This is the official version of the riddle, but let's discover who the Exorcists are. Damien Rath (David DeFeis) on vocals, similar to a cross between the good Mike Browning, former drummer-singer of Morbid Angel in "Abominations Of Desolation" and the good old Cronos in "Black Metal" form: a growling bark like a devil with pleurisy, apt to scare neighborhood stray cats, fit to preside over satanic rites. On the solitary, lashing and heavy guitar, Marc Dorian (Edward Pursino), on the cavernous bass Jamie Locke (Joe O'Reilly), and on the speed drums such Geoff Fontaine (Joey Ayvazian).

"Nightmare Theatre" unfolds through 15 tracks, where Esotericism and Satanism take a walk with voice and guitar, protagonists of each song, in an evocative yet self-indulgent music-lyrics union for souls eager to be frightened. The rhythm section provides the normal contribution in slow tracks and instead sustained speed in the more animated ones. The paths of speed metal of the NWOBHM are walked ("Black Mass"), mixed with thrash uproar and proto death metal voice ("Burnt Offerings"), in a well-achieved mixture in some episodes, while in others the origin of the album conceived as a diversion is felt ("The Trial"): extremism is like contained, not channeled in a precise direction. Heaviness is not determinant, the speed is something linear ("Riding The Hell") and there are no tempo changes like Mercyful Fate, style "Don't Break The Oath" (with a more heavy and brilliant production). This is the album's limit, certainly listenable but also static, monotonous in the voice and rhythm solutions. It is clear that several voices lack sparkle, but around them, the scenario and arrangements change, while here the occult remains the only certainty even in atmospheric interludes such as "Consuming Flames Of Redemption" and "The Invocation", almost in a sort of sneering self-celebration. With a clearer and more evocative singing, the final result would have been more brilliant. It amazes that a hard rock group ventures into this extreme music devoid of contact with the work carried out under the moniker Virgin Steele, except for the brilliant and unstoppable solo present in "Megawatt Mayhem", and it surprises that there was even a second LP planned, which then remained in the drawers.

The inspiration of the old Virgin Steele combined with Edward Pursino's guitar verve, technically better than Jack Starr, had produced immature but rich in metal fiber fruits, of dark fury child of Venom and Mercyful Fate: just listen to the cheerful-moving-moderate tracks "Call For The Exorcist" and "Possessed". The four Exorcists do not play proto black or proto death, but a sulfurous '80s speed. This is nothing more than an experiment, bizarre if you will, but still an experiment, while Possessed, Onslaught, and Death are not a parenthesis but a beginning: the first cry of death metal. After this "Nightmare Theatre", the curtain falls, the Exorcists disappear, and Virgin Steele reemerges, releasing "Noble Savage" in 1986.