Nocturnus
The Key

Starting a review by asking a rhetorical question may not be the best practice from a journalistic point of view, but please forgive me, I can't help it.

What is originality in music? Perhaps it's the constant tension toward an inner search that can extrapolate and then translate personal feelings, anguish, pain, rage, passion, or even the contemplation of the unknown into notes. Or more prosaically, the determination to blend sonorities devoid of common points.

Perhaps this latter consideration can help us understand how Mike Browning, drummer/singer of Nocturnus (a defector from the earliest incarnation of Morbid Angel), Louis Panzer (keyboardist) plus the magnificent duo of Mike Davis/Sean McNennery, found inspiration to add to death metal still steeped in thrash bay area references, such a prominent use of spectral keys, not limited to simple background music for soundscapes in intros but played in an almost "solo" way, as real protagonists of the songwriting.

And all this already in the early days of death metal's diffusion.

"The Key," the album under review, is dated 1990, in its first edition on vinyl: no one at that time had ventured so far, and perhaps because of this early stage, they paid a considerable price in terms of internal group stability and recognized fame. Only after the second full-length "Threshold" did critics fully appreciate their unorthodox stylistic proposal, perhaps too late as the band's creative magic moment had already passed and they split immediately after.

"The Key" is thematically divided into two distinct parts: let's say, side A presents a series of satanic/scientific/environmental visions of planetary destruction and return from the dead. While on side B we witness the creation of a true mini concept, in which the story of a dying Earth due to too many technological sophistications (which increased the capacity for mass killings and for research, as well as lethal pollution) is narrated, from which, during an alien invasion, a man manages to escape using a time machine to search for the origin of evil, the beginning of humanity's slow and inexorable drift: the birth of Christ. Killing him changes the space-time continuum and alters the scenario of human evolution, leading to a new and satanic genesis.Creepy.

As far as the purely musical side is concerned, even though in their case it's difficult to separate the lyrical side from the instrumental side, given the absolute interpenetration between the two components, the first peculiarity must be mentioned immediately: the album does not feature recorded bass lines, Jeff Estes will join permanently only after the recording sessions of "The Key".

For the rest we are faced with an absolute masterpiece, where the keyboards (which we have already discussed, highlighting their bold impact and absolute importance in the album itself) and the guitars, magnificent, penetrating, divinely played and always ready to solo or to highlight tempo changes and the succession of main riffs, construct a constant chase, a remarkably original sci-fi/horror-flavored weave that somewhat recalls Voivod (seminal!!!) of "Killing Technology" mixed with a very refined and sought-after thrash/death entity, scarcely found at the time in other realities. Tracks like the chilling opener "Lake of Fire" or the more traditional "Before Christ, After Death", give an idea of the historical scope of the release, not to mention songs like "Andromeda Strain" (in my opinion the best of the whole work) or the diabolical "Standing in Blood".

In all honesty, a note of demerit I feel obliged to make: the performance behind the skins by the good Mike Browning is somewhat deficient and I'm sorry, but the double bass drum is often heard not keeping up with the rhythm and speed of the other instruments, more in some parts which should be blast beats, the snare drum disappears completely. As for his vocal performance, I would say that his cybernetic and creeping growl fits well with the general atmosphere of the album.

In conclusion, "The Key" is an LP absolutely to have, even at the cost of going back in time with the time machine conceived by our sick minds to kill Christ.