Definitely
one of the finest Swedish Metal singles you can find (and yes, this one
you can actually find). They had a couple of great MERCYFUL FATE-sounding
demos predating this recording (the first under the name STORMBRINGER)
and if you have some good CDR/mp3 trading connections they shouldn't be
too hard to come by, since they were remastered and spread by a band member.
Here FAITH have developed into very 'Scanda-Metal' sounding Epic Doom
Metal and I don't really know how to explain what I mean with that. Could
be those classical harmonies in B-side "Possession" I guess. This song
is a gem of mournful Doom & gloom without loosing the classic Heavy Metal
feel and riffing. The title track starts out with a foreboding church
organ, goes into a classic, true Doom riff and bursts into a faster (by
doom standards) Metal crusher not too different from the speedier CANDLEMASS
trax. The catchy hard rock-chorus sound kinda funny in this environment,
but it works out fine and adds some originality to the FAITH-sound. The
vocals are kinda crude and the recording would have gained plenty by a
production as mesmerizing as on the 2 first CANDLEMASS albums, but since
80's private Doom Metal 7" don't exactly grow on trees you're not in a
position to complain. The lyrix, er... I dunno, I'm pretty sure he sings
about "possession of reindeers" in "Possession", but I can't for the life
of me understand why. I guess it's a pretty scary though when you think
about it. "Rudolf, no! Not the hedge trimmer!!"
When guitarist Roger Johansson left to join MERCY for a brief moment in
the late 80's he brought "Hymn.." with him and made a new recording of
it, this time called "Subconsciousness". It finally got released in 2001
on the "Victory March" album, but it proved to be a rather inferior version
with new, ill-fitted lyrics. FAITH on the other hand reformed in the mid
90's and released their more progressive debut album "Salvation Lies Within"
in 2003. Check out their home page
here.