Description
Human Sacrifice is the debut album by the American thrash metal band Vengeance (renamed Vengeance Rising the following year), released on Intense Records in 1988, a division of Frontline Music Group, distributed by Sparrow/Star Song Distribution. The album was recorded at Neverland Studios in Los Alamitos, California; with Caesar Kalinowski producing. Mixed by Ron Goudie at Sutton Place Recording Studio in Glendale, California. Vengeance features Roger Martinez on vocals, Doug Thieme and Larry Farkas on guitars, and a rhythm section consisting of Roger Dale Martin on bass and Glen Mancaruso on drums.
This is the most radical Christian album ever released! If Larry Norman started Christian rock, and Stryper revolutionized it; Vengeance has flipped it upside-down. The album cover art alone sends shivers down your spine. The music is so “on the edge” that it will quickly carve out it’s own hardcore audience. This is thrash or, if you prefer, speed metal – music for a crowd that’s far removed form the mainstream.
Upon first listen, this style of music seems chaotic and out of control. Upon closer examination, though, you will find four highly-skilled musicians playing very complex musical scales at a frantic pace… and a vocalist that belts out lyrics like a wolfman from a horror movie. If you think Stryper is too heavy, stay away from this album. If you’re craving for something a lot heavier and a lot faster than Stryper, you’ll love it.
Thrash metal, a very popular trend in today’s metal, is what kids want to hear the most, according to Sanctuary pastor Bob Beeman, whose toll-free hotline receives over 2,000 calls per month (800/548-5222), many of which are inquiries about the availability of Christian thrash music.
‘Human Sacrifice’ is full of “in your face” thrash metal at 90 miles an hour. Glen Mancaruso’s drumming sounds supersonic and Roger Martin’s bass playing sounds like a helicopter taking off.
Vocalist Roger Martinez, who pastors a Sanctuary in Hollywood, shouts and growls street-level lyrics that are as aggressive as any fire-and-brimstone preacher, yet would make even the most conservative theologian proud: “Blood atonement, is to be understood/ Substitutionary death/ You will either stand before God, bearing all your sins/ And pay the penalty, or let Christ stand there for you/ As He did at Calvary, to give you a gift/ Justification, the gift of righteousness,” («Fill This Place With Blood»).
This album is so different and unprecedented, that Christians will either love it or hate it. Listening to this album for the first time will probably be an unforgettable experience. [Doug Van Pelt, CCM, November 1988]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/human-sacrifice-remastered/390798645)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Human Sacrifice”
A2. “Burn”
A3. “Mulligan Stew”
A4. “Receive Him”
A5. “I Love Hating Evil”
A6. “Fatal Delay”
Side Two
B1. “White Throne”
B2. “Salvation”
B3. “From The Dead”
B4. “Ascension”
B5. “He Is God”
B6. “Fill This Place With Blood”
B7. “Beheaded”
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Intense Records. Re-issued on both CD (Gold Disc Edition) and vinyl (completely remastered for vinyl and only 450 units available in black) by Roxx Records in 2020.
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