We've had over 2 years now to work on this album, and not one minute of it has been wasted. All the classic Usurper elements are there, but there is new element of hate, a new element of fear & new element of diabolical evil added to this recording.
PROWLING DEATH!!! Raise the Goat's Horn Full of Ale... Encircle the Fire!!
Todestrieb Records in proud underground alliance with Night Birds Records is honoured to unleashed a trio of early USURPER records on tape! Old school Black Metal from Chicago. Hell's Fury... Brimstone Fist!! Hail Usurper!
Headbanging Unholy Metal of Death recorded, mixed and mastered July-August 1998. Classic underground Black METAL!!
When myself and D. Slaughter were coming up with the concepts for Skeletal Season Back in 1996, we really wanted our second album to stand out more than our previous releases. We wanted it to be more dark and disturbing than anything we've ever done. Lyrically it was dealing with more of the paranormal side of things, and we wanted the music to fit it. We didn't want to put out just a standard sounding death metal album. We wanted to really accentuate the creepy, gloomy, dreary side of Usurper. We still wanted it to be the darkest album we done, but we didn't want to loose the heavy metal fury. We feel it is the perfect balance between the two worlds. Our biggest concern was to still have every song be 100% headbangable, which is where many bands loose that aspect when they do something real dark.
Review
The second full-length CD from these American originalities is a massive dose of Metal, with awkward riffing and a real heavy bottom to the music. I'm really into this album, it has got a great drive and lots of very interesting and original aspects without being pretentious or out of shape in any way. This is Metal, with links to Celtic Frost I would say. Especially on the vocalside, but also in the feeling much of the music has got, and that is only meant as a compliment. There is a presence of something truly unique on this album, and the somewhat eerie feeling it has got further underline the feeling of unique music. The real slow, almost slimy (!), riffs are really working out perfectly in the music, and despite not being catchy it is really a great album to listen to. Really serious music with a certain feeling of the older days, but more importantly, this is very up to date and good. - Slayer Magazine 4/5
