"Worship new gods"?? No! If there's one thing I can't stand it's numb-brained
New Age cunts. Go choke on a crystal, you tits!
Worship old gods? no, No, NO!! Take it outside godboy, 'cause when you
quote the bible is when I load my rifle!
No, the only gods you should worship is The Almighty COVEN!! First of
all let me make perfectly clear that this Michigan edition of COVEN has
absolutely no connection whatsoever with the "humorous" Seattle thrash-act
of "Iron Dick"-infamy with the same name. This haunting and obscure act
is so much more deserving of such a powerful band name. OK, so they mix
Celtic and Norse themes and graphics in a typically clueless and tacky
American manner, but with good intentions, so on behalf of my great great
grandfathers, I forgive them. And with music such as this, how could I
do otherwise? Before I start churning out the usual endless list of band
comparisons, please understand that COVEN sound like no other Metal band
that ever existed. All I can refer to as far as references goes are what
kind of feelings they project. On a spiritual level they hover a few feet
above the centre of a pentagram, with "..Pandemonium"-era CELTIC FROST,
LORDS OF THE CRIMSON ALLIANCE,
CIRITH UNGOL, "Hammerheart"-era BATHORY and BAUHAUS standing at the end
of each point. In one sense they could be hurled into the Doom-niche,
but it's only in the opening "Riddle Of Steel" that they ever come close
to something CANDLEMASSic/SABBATHic. Apart from that it's their unique
brand of, grinding, twangy-yet-thundering leads that are their most conspicuous
treat. Songs like "Ruler", "Burial Ground" and the seminal COVEN-in-a-nutshell
"Threshold Of The New" are like the tank brigade of the armies of the
dead. Totally unstoppable, doomsday-ridden, straight-ahead heavy metal.
They have their melodic moments in "General's Eye" and "Jail House", but
not in a servile, insipid "Melodic Metal"-manner, for this is clearly
not an album out to rub you the right way. The do tangent the early 80's
Goth-sound in "Kiss Me With Blood", but the offspring of this
unholy union is nothing less that Total Doom.
A tell-tale sign of a highly interesting True Metal Gem is when the music
is TOTALLY DEVOID of any good-time rock'n'roll parts, and "Worship New
Gods" is about as "Rock"-free as the North Pole. Some dark, cloudy, angst-ridden
days you cannot listen to anything else but COVEN.
Originally written in German. Translate to:
Das Cover ist schon mal ein Leckerbissen sondergleichen (sorry, der Cover Scan sieht leider beschissen aus) und auch musikalisch wissen COVEN mit dieser raren Eigenpressung zu überzeugen. Mittelschneller, teils doomiger US Metal, eine klare ausdrucksstarke Stimme die auch in hohen Lagen noch zu überzeugen weiss, dazu jede Menge rifflastiger Songs und die gute Gewissheit, das man mit diesem Album sein Geld ganz gut angelegt hat. Leider bietet das Cover und das darin befindliche Innersleeve keinerlei Hinweise darüber, wann dieses Album erschienen ist und woher diese Band stammt, somit zählt auch dieses Teil zu den eher obskureren Teilen amerikanischer Privat Pressungen. Das Geld ist es aber allemal Wert.
Not every item from the glorious 80s is an inevitable collectors gem. Although "Worship new gods" is really rare, the cover is great and the eerie, haunting Epic Doom Coven plays is quite charmful, I am missing catchy, memorable, impressive songs. A bit disappointing, unfortunately, and thus no must-have to me.