VENGEANCE RISING - HUMAN SACRIFICE remaster

Human Sacrifice by Vengeance Rising is in my opinion the epitome of heavy metal from a Christian point of view circa the late 80’s. From their bombastic and crushing sound to the completely biblical lyrical content, the final piece was the live performance and having seen Vengeance Rising no less than five times from 1987 through 1990 they easily were on pair with their secular counterparts, if they didn’t exceed them.

Musical influences like Slayer, Possessed, early Anthrax and Metallica leave you completely in awe the first time you hear it. The intensity of the music which doesn’t let up one bit is only surpassed by the lyrical content which is exemplarily.

Songs such as I Love Hating Evil, White Throne, and Fill This Place with Blood all speak to the redemptive power of the King, Jesus Christ, and the resulting changes that occurs within a believer. Not to mention their classic track Burn, which discusses the final resting place of Lucifer, the lake of fire; with a chorus that repeats ‘Burn Satan Burn…’ make no mistake Vengeance Rising understand who the victor is. Sit down with your Bible and take the lyric sheet you’ll be amazed.

Human Sacrifice is full tilt thrash metal which is just as heavy today as it was in 1988 when it was released. I would wager that if I put this album against any other thrash album today Human Sacrifice would hold its own. Strong guitar riffs, brutal vocals, a world class rhythm section from the opening notes to the closing screams Vengeance Rising have written an album that clearly is a definitive piece of the Christian metal puzzle.

From the full on thrash of White Throne or Beheaded to the slow powerful tunes such as Mulligan’s Stew and Burn the listener is treated to a musical cacophony that still sets standards today. One of the best things about this release was that Vengeance could deliver live as well. Make no mistake, when they hit the scene in 1987 their live shows were legendary snippets of sonic greatness.

Production wise this is a 1980’s recording, but the remastering done by J Powell at Steinhaus is masterful. The kick drum is more pronounced and not completely buried in the mix. Troublesome frequencies have been corrected. The sound is big and fat, with plenty of atmosphere.

Intense Millennium has provided new artwork for all of their remasters and this album is no exception. However for the purist you can easily flip the booklet around and view the original artwork. Speaking of the booklet Pastor Bob Beeman provides some insightful liner notes and there are some cool photos. One of those photos was the cover of White Throne #3 with Larry Farkas on the cover.

Perhaps you’ve only heard about Vengeance Rising and never had the chance to check it out for yourself. Well here’s your chance. This album is heavy and powerful and makes no apologies for itself. Apologies aren’t necessary because this disc is the one to get. Human Sacrifice is a classic in every sense of the word...


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