“Welcome to my funeral my family and my friends!” Wait, that’s not how I meant to start this essay. What I meant to say was, welcome to another edition of From My Collection. Amongst the sea of underground labels that were responsible for putting out the releases that came to define extreme metal (i.e. Roadrunner, Megaforce, Combat, Metal Blade), one that doesn’t get enough love is New Renaissance Records. Founded in 1984 by Hellion vocalist Ann Boleyn, the label became synonymous for releasing some of the wildest, most cutting edge, and downright primal bands of the era, arguably peaking in ’87. That year, Wehrmacht’s Shark Attack to the crossover sound to a new, breakneck, alcohol drenched level. Necrophagia’s Season of the Dead predated Death’s Scream Bloody Gore by a month, ideally closing the casket on the never-ending Possessed vs. Death debate. And Dream Death’s Journey into Mystery pushed the boundaries of Sabbathian metal into unknown realms of brutality. This week, we revisit this milestone of an album, with an essay entrenched in doom and mystery. Can you hear the screams?
When Dream Death formed in 1985 (or ’84, depending on who you ask), doom metal was not the widespread scene that it is today. Sure, there were bands playing the slower, Sabbathian sound, but those bands were far and few in between. This was the era of thrash and speed. At a time when everything was getting faster, the last thing up and coming metal bands wanted to do was slow it down, at risk of being labelled “posers”. Little did these naïve youngsters know that incorporating downtuned riffing and miserably plodding tempos would create a whole new dimension of extremity.
In those days, the term “doom” was used to describe Sabbath disciples like Pentagram, Saint Vitus, and Trouble, as well as bands as diverse as Cirith Ungol and Hellhammer. Now on paper, CU and Hellhammer don’t have much in common. One pioneered epic metal with their fantastical lyrics and lengthy compositions. The other ushered in black metal with their lo-fi atmosphere and penchant for evil. Yet what both had in common was a love of tonally heavy riffs, played at maximum volume and minimal speed.
Dream Death took cues from all of these bands, as well as the burgeoning thrash scene, creating a truly unique sound that really hasn’t been replicated since. One part doom and one part thrash, the band made waves with a pair of independently released demos, a self titled and More Graveyard Delving, both released in 1986. Less than a year later came a deal with New Renaissance Records and their full length debut, Journey into Mystery. Too doomy for the thrashers and too aggressive for the doomers…who am I kidding? There really wasn’t even a proper doom metal scene at this point, making this album all the more revolutionary.
Journey into Mystery opens with the maniacal “Back from the Dead”: An underground anthem whose thrashy verses, doomy chorus, macabre lyrics, and hellish atmosphere are bound to leave an imprint on the listener’s psyche. As far as the thrash aspect goes, the only band I can compare Dream Death to is Slayer circa Hell Awaits. This is far from the mosh friendly rowdiness of Anthrax or technical showmanship of Megadeth. Taking this into consideration, I’d almost say Journey into Mystery has a deadly edge to it. Does this make it the first death/doom album? Perhaps!
The band’s love of the arcane is showcased on the unholy doom of “The Elder Race”. It’s slow, it’s heavy, and it goes for the throat. Aside from some frantically thrashy moments halfway through, this is meat and potatoes doom with an extra helping of meat. On the other side of the coin is “Bitterness and Hatred”, whose title alone screams old school thrash. Whereas “The Elder Race” is doom with thrash undertones, “Bitterness and Hatred” is raging, feral death/thrash with the heaviness of doom. Closing out side A is “Black Edifice”, which further expands upon the gruesome lyrics and bone crushing doom of “The Elder Race”.
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by the agonizing and aptly titled “Divine in Agony”. Like “Back from the Dead”, this one combines death, doom, and thrash in one cacophonous display of force. The galloping riffs and d-beats of “Hear My Screams” see the band tapping yet again into the death/thrash vein, while “Sealed in Blood” takes the doom side of things to new heights. Aside from Hellhammer’s “Triumph of Agony”, I can’t think of many other 80s metal songs as slow, yet compelling as “Sealed in Blood”. Truthfully, if Dream Death had released any one of these songs as standalone singles, they’d forever be underground legends. But of course, they saved the best for last.
Black Sabbath had “Black Sabbath”. Saint Vitus had “Saint Vitus”. Following that tradition, Dream Death had “Dream Death”. This pissed off display of doom-thrash gets my blood pumping and head banging every single time, as if it were tailormade for a mosh pit in hell, or perhaps a cemetery of thrasher zombies. The anthemic chorus (“Dreeeeaaammm death!!!”) and borderline sludge breakdown are the icing on this cult metal cake. And just like that, this album, which stands as the missing link between Celtic Frost and Obituary, is history.
So whatever happened to Dream Death? Well despite releasing a 1988 demo entitled Ode to Sorrow, the band folded before a proper follow up to Journey into Mystery could be made. More accurately, they evolved into Penance, shedding the thrash ridden aggression in exchange for a more traditional doom approach. It wasn’t until 2011 that the band came “Back from the Dead”. Today, Dream Death and Penance co-exist, both releasing albums and playing shows when they can. I guess happy endings are for even the unhappiest, gloomiest, and doomiest of metal bands, or such is the case with this essay.