Samhain (DEN)- The Courier 7" EP

(Midian Creations Records 1985/1995)

Those eyes on the cover are overwhelmingly evil to begin with but it fits well with the demonic scheme of "The Courier", a demo recording from the Danish underground veterans from way back in '85. This seminal recording was given a second lease of life on vinyl in the mid '90s where black/death metal was no longer veiled in any dark, mysterious secrecy, and metal guru Wim Baelus behind the label must have set his sight to prove a point that "yes, there was black metal in '85,  not how thrash metal mutate into death, then black metal like popular fashion dictates". He had the monumental Poison MLP under his belt, but the black horse is undoubtedly this Samhain release, which unfortunately didn't gain much exposure in the metal scenes. Samhain was the band before Desexult, and they were significantly different as well. On "The Courier", primitive savagery hangs out like so much butcher's meat you don't know whether to wince and turn or sit back and perve the miasma. The drums drive a rhythm; pummels a dense, sepulchral grind with so much energy and the riffs speak of a wry cultural commentary of punk metal fusion, to put it simply the Hellhammer way. Think Onslaught, think Bathory and of course think Hellhammer and there we have this gargantuan monster showcasing its ware like the evil courier it is, drilling crushing darkness into your senses. "Plague Messiah" is an overwound clockwork unleashing its fierce delirium, with the urgency of Discharge (or maybe you can say Bathory a year later), and its chorus is a nasty twist of obese debauchery, dripping with the ugly grease of the old Hellhammer/Celtic Frost engine as it cranks down slower. "Prince Of Evil" almost begins like a Motorhead, bass plucking wild, rookie notes before once again its crusty black metal treatment commences straight on back to the infernal natural place in "Salvation". Don't let the age of this release scares you off, this is classic black metal that ages like wine, not like the new black metal bands that reek of their mother's milk in a day's time. Consume wisely.