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Rating: Among the collection of thrash metal bands from the Bay Area in California, Possessed are probably the rawest and filthiest. Their second album, "Beyond The Gates" (1986), serves as proof: ten songs, which unfold among crushing riffs that offer no respite, moderately fast-paced rhythms, a voice - that of Jeff Becerra - that brutally screams without ever intoning a melody line, and an absolute refusal of melodic temptations and accessibility. Furthermore, a rough and smoky production (sources speak of economic constraints and lack of resources) adds an extra dose of sordidness to a sound that is already crude and vile in itself. As if that weren't enough, their blasphemous and somewhat simple lyrics do not harbor the angry humanism of early Metallica, nor much of Slayer's violent anti-religious invective; they are mostly satanic invocations (the title track, Seance), prophecies of hellish apocalypses (March To Die, The Beasts Of The Apocalypse), sometimes urging suicide and euthanasia (No Will To Live). Self-indulgences?
Gratuitous provocations? Probably yes, but these nefarious themes will, in a few years, make a splash in death metal, to the extent that our heroes, when not simply (and rightly) listed among the inspirations of such music, are considered one of the very first death bands. To exemplify their indisputable historical importance, even contemporary Brazilian band Sepultura would lend an attentive ear to songs like The Heretic and Tribulation in order to complete, in the period straddling the late Eighties and early Nineties and before venturing into crossover territories, their lethal thrash-death.
The current reissue on CD (the operation dates back to 1998) also includes the subsequent work, the EP "The Eyes Of Horror" from 1987. The sound remains feral and brutal, but denotes better production (provided by Joe Satriani, at the time the teacher of guitarist Larry LaLonde, instead of Carl Canedy) and a notable stylistic debt to Slayer. In this regard, of the five tracks, listen particularly to the sadistic anthem My Belief and the violent Swing Of The Axe: riffs, drumming, rhythmic patterns, everything in short, except Becerra’s unmistakable and always bestial voice, don’t they seem pillaged from "Reign In Blood"? This mini-album is also their testament, as they would disband shortly thereafter, only to regroup occasionally, with Becerra as the sole stable member of the classic lineup (almost paradoxically, LaLonde would go on to partner with Les Claypool and Tim Alexander in the formidable maniacs of Primus).
Negative notes: in "Beyond The Gates" the band can be accused of rather one-note inspiration and thus a certain repetitiveness (in time, however, it will be shown that these characteristics belong to a good part of extreme metal), while in "The Eyes Of Horror" there's evident depersonalization, further evidenced by the massive influences of the more renowned and compensated Slayer. Nonetheless, it should be remembered that Possessed (referring to the original lineup, of course) were born and died very young within a few years, and therefore did not have the time to mature and grow together. While on one hand, their being so rough, primitively brutal, and uncompromising kept them away from the mainstream, on the other hand, they became one of the great and most influential institutions of extreme metal for the same reason.
Four stars: a rating not fully deserved from an artistic viewpoint, but more than legitimate from a historical perspective.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 March to Die (03:12)
Marching to death's bell
Descending into hell
Judgement day is hear
And you fate is dear
March to die!
March to die!
March to die!
March to die! Die! Die! Die!
Take my mind and soul
Countless heads will roll
Future lies with me
Come forth, and you will see
March to die!
Blackened is the sky
Is it heaven or hell?
Only time will tell
Pendulum will swing
Manifesting screams
Oppression will prevail
Lower the window's veil
March to die!
March to die!
March to die!
March to die! Die! Die! Die!
07 Beyond the Gates (02:54)
[Music - MT Lyrics - JB] I bow to the altar For I bow to my faith Guide me to my destiny With everlasting grace Unholy are my thoughts In you I must confide I prowl among the nights With Satan at my side Bow to the altar The pagan one Pray for the birth Of Belial's son Beyond the gates Lucifer, hear me I pray to the altar I hear the sounds of insanity Master, I drink the unholy water Save me the torment that beckons for me Walk through illusions of terror to come And I could tell you of things I have done I saw the gates The future I've grasped I've been beyond Gates of the past Unearth the graves of all mankind Beyond dead and buried Enter the shrine Condemned to the torture The horror and pain Enslaved by your sins Brought under death's reign Lucifer, see me I live for the night Stalking and prowling in the moonlight I crave the unholy temple below Spreading the tales of death that I know
09 Seance (03:02)
Join hands to summon
Up the dead
Hear them singing
In side your head
On my gypsy,
Can you tell
If sweet Satan
Will rise from hell?
Crystall ball,
Hypnotise
Look in side
Thouse demon eyes
Paint the circle
Around the pentagram
Cut the throat
Of the crying ram
Seance!
Join hands to summon
Up the dead
Hear them singing
In side your head
On my gypsy,
Can you tell
If sweet Satan
Will rise from hell?
Paint the circle
Around the pentagram
Cut the throat
Of the crying ram!
10 Restless Dead (02:59)
Premature burial,
Of my soul.
Corpses lie in the grave,
Their flesh is cold.
Emerge the dead,
From the grave.
Morbid laughter,
Life betrayed.
Covet the flesh of life,
The human parasite.
To drink your blood,
Sustain their reign,
Rise the restless dead.
12 Confessions (02:53)
Lyrics : JB Music : MT
Crimes of passion
ruled his mind
the anger inside
compassion he will
Never find
The Pain and Pleasure
of the blade
And he loved
The screams she made
Forgive me father
For I have sinned
Because the anger
Burned within
Unfaithful
He saw it in her eyes
They wouldn't hide
Betrayal and her Wicked
Lies
Confessions
From a dying man
Listen now
And understand
Shadows
In the Night
Pain
that summons fright
He looked
Into her eyes
And Tells her
Tonight she dies
But to you
I must confess
That when she died
she was the best
14 The Eyes of Horror (03:15)
Lyrics : JB Music : MT
Every night I see through
Eyes
Of a different lunatic
And every night I fantasize
In Trancial Mesmeric
All alone inside my head
Within my padded cell
ruled by thoughts of
Another Mind
Controlled by unseen eyes
In my mind I see the sun
Plunge into the sea I listen
To my
Tales now I'll tell you what
I see
And so the corpse
And the thrill
My mind is wrapped
nothing's real
Do I dream
Or is it true
The piercing Scream
She Never knew
15 Swing of the Axe (03:59)
Ripping tearing slashing the axe
The blood starts to flow the axe of pain
Running for safety eyes start to bleed
Red is the sight of evil pain
Swing of the axe the curse is on you
Returning to take you away
Swing of the axe your evil deeds
Friend of Satan he will succeed
You had your choice
You chose your ways
You took the devil he's wrong
Your mind is mistaken
Your soul has been taken
Your brain's been twisted and lost
I can see
The river of flames
Where you'll be cast and thrown
Heavens of fire
At Satan's desire
Hell is now your home
Sin after sin
Your brains are crushed in
This is the way that you want
Wrong from the start
You weren't so smart
Making the choice that will haunt...
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