Possessed – Revelations of Oblivion

6/10

Wow, a new album by Possessed, I never thought I would live to see that! These pioneers, rightfully dubbed “the first death metal band in history” made themselves eternal legends with classic debut “Seven Churches” in 1985, but released only one more album (“Beyond the Gates”, 1986) and then disappeared. It has now been more than 30 years, and they suddenly come back with an album just as raw and gruesome as ever. Now, isn’t that cool?

“Revelations of Oblivion” is without a doubt an album in the same tradition as the two original Possessed classics of the 80’s. The songs are fast as hell, but too brutal to be regarded as thrash. And then there’s of course Jeff Becceras voice… When it comes to sheer brutality and raw energy, few bands can reach up to the pure insanity of Possessed!

In powerful songs such as “Damned” and “Shadowcult”, the band strikes the exact right notes and I just want to throw myself into the moshpit and bang my head off! But that feeling isn’t constant, and as a whole, the album dragges on a little too long. Almost an hour is a hard length for a death metal album to live up to, and Possessed doesn’t pull it off all the way. Instead of 3 minute songs we get 5 minute songs, and I sort of get the feeling that every song would be more powerful if they would cut the songs at least one minute shorter.

Over all, I still recommend this album to fans of old school death metal, and praise this as a worthy comeback from a true metal legend. But also, most thrash and death metal classics of the past, such as “Seven Churches”, hit the below 40 minute mark. I wish this one would too.

Band: Possessed
Title: Revelations of Oblivion
Label: Nuclear Blast
Date of release: 10/-19
Time: 54,16
Rate: 6/10
Stand out tracks: Damned