The Experience of Horror

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The Experience of Horror
Studio album from Assorted Heap

Publication
(s)

February 1991

admission

September 1990

Label (s) 1 More Flop Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

Thrash metal , death metal

Title (number)

6 (LP), 9 (CD), 17 (CD re-release)

running time

27:20 (LP), 37:38 (CD), 66:50 (CD re-release)

occupation
  • Guitar: Klaus Kessemeier
  • Bass : Joachim "Lord" Meyer

production

Assorted Heap, SL Coe (aka Shelko Topalovic)

Studio (s)

Dust Music Studio

chronology
- The Experience of Horror Mindwaves
(1992)

The Experience of Horror is the 1991 debut album by the East Frisian thrash and death metal band Assorted Heap .

History of origin

After recording their first demo , which had sold around 400 times even though it sounded bad, Assorted Heap planned a second demo with five new songs and a one-minute instrumental that could be classified as an intro , which should be much better produced. The band moved into the Dust Music Studio in Hilchenbach in September 1990 and began recording. The basic structures of the songs had been worked out jointly, only the guitar parts were incumbent on the two guitarists Gunter Groen and Klaus Kessemeier, who called themselves “Gunter” and “Klause” on the later album cover. Singer Dirk Schiemann, who appears on the album cover as "Didier", wrote the lyrics and placed great emphasis on avoiding clichés as much as possible. The text of the theme song Experience of Horror is the only one that is an outside contribution. The drummer Thomas Marter chose his surname and bassist Joachim Meyer for the line-up, and - before he went by the nickname "Lord" - presented himself as "Banks".

The studio owner approached the musicians during the initially self-directed recordings and asked them if they wanted to become the first band on his newly founded label 1 More Flop Records (1 MF for short). After their approval, he put the singer and producer SL Coe at their side, who now co-produced the album and subsequently recorded the backing vocals of Unexpiated Bloodshed . In addition, the second sound technician alongside Markus Schneider, Michael (in the credits "Mike") Stötzel, was more closely involved in the composition of the song, which can be seen in his contribution with the acoustic guitar on In Vain . In view of the unforeseeable promotion of a demo creation to album production, one could not offer more than the prepared six pieces. That's why the vinyl album has more of an EP character. For the CD edition, two songs were composed and recorded in two days. In addition, the gimmick song Frisia Non Cantat was recorded for the end of the CD, so that it comprises nine tracks. The cover designed an acquaintance of the band called Nicolaus hip. In February 1991 the LP came into the trade through the distribution of Rough Trade . The first edition was sold out within two weeks. A total of 4,000 units of the two sound carrier formats were sold. Since 1 MF did not provide a correct billing, a dispute arose, but it was settled, whereupon the follow-up album was also released in April 1992 by 1 MF Records. Before that, back in 1991, Assorted Heap did tours in Denmark, France and the Netherlands with Atrocity , Pestilence and Paradise Lost . The nine-station tour with Paradise Lost was the most memorable, Kessemeier recalled in an interview in 2005.

Since February 22nd, 2016 there is a re-release by the label Vic Records. The original CD version was expanded to include the first demo and two other previously unpublished recordings from that recording session and thus has 17 tracks.

Track list

LP 1–6 only, CD 1–9, CD re-release 1–17.

  1. Unexpiated Bloodshed - 4:16
  2. Experience of Horror - 5:51
  3. Remembrance of Tomorrow - 3:52
  4. In Vain - 1:07
  5. Sold Out Souls - 5:39
  6. Trick to Your Mind - 6:33
  7. Terrorized Brains - 4:27
  8. Grave New World - 5:07
  9. Frisia Non Cantat - 0:44
  10. Intro (demo) - 2:27
  11. Killing Peace (Demo) - 3:36
  12. Go to Throw up (Demo) - 3:34
  13. Assorted Heap (Demo) - 5:09
  14. I Don't Care (demo) - 6:02
  15. Green Berets - Fail (Demo) - 0:11
  16. Green Berets (demo) - 2:51
  17. After the Attack (demo) - 5:22

style

Timely descriptions

In Metal Hammer , their freelance collaborator, Stefan Glas, found that the album belongs to the Death Metal category, but that it is a "rewarmed mix of things that have already been done by dozens of other bands". After all, the usual death metal clichés have been dispensed with. Editor-in-chief Robert Müller deviated from it slightly by calling the style Death Metal with Thrash tendencies. Comparable weightings can be found for Exhorder and Malevolent Creation .

For Frank Trojan from Rock Hard it was Thrash Metal. The material is "beaten down", the melodic nuances are very subtle. His colleague Fabian Fischer also said that the performances on the debut show a playful class.

Gamera Glaub dubbed it in Break Out as a “Death / Thrash Metal Album” with a balanced style .

Retrospective descriptions

Dave Campbell named in the multinational online magazine Metal Temple the characteristics of Unexpiated Bloodshed as the "breakneck speed" and the "changeable riffing ". The piece was influenced by Metallica , said Johnny Main in the English online magazine Metal Talk . While Main rated the title song as epic , Campbell described it in detail as a gloomy sound with hardcore- like rhythmic screaming vocals, but also with an interlude that offered variety. According to Campbell, Vain is an appealing acoustic number that temporarily slows down the force of the album and transfers it to the heavy-sounding Sold Out Souls . In Trick to Your Mind , as he describes it, the lead and rhythm guitars “dance” over a deep E chord riff . Terrorized Brains includes background effects and an accompanying acoustic guitar, plus growls and screams. It starts slowly, builds tension, then gets fast. In Grave New World the blastbeat technique dominates , the singing is again more rhythmic speaking. Frisia Non Cantat is a short, lighthearted comedic ending. The album is a typical sound example of that time, he summarized. Nevertheless it is somehow difficult to classify, because elements from the emerging Death Metal have been added to the established Thrash style and the singing style fits the Hardcore. Main came to the same conclusion by calling it "Hardcore Thrash".

On crossfire-metal.de , Joxe Schaefer described the album as "high-speed Thrash with screeching Death Metal vocals". The album has a “consistently brutal foundation” on which fast-paced, accomplished and varied songwriting with “melody sprinkles and nebulous keyboards” is based. Siegfried Wehkamp from mega-metal.de analyzed that this results in thrash of high quality in terms of playing technique and energy . It reminded him of the Incubus -Werk Beyond The Unknown and upon further consideration of Sadus and Num Skull .

In the Totentanz review by Schnuller there is talk of "sometimes hellishly fast [m] Thrash Metal, which got a slight Death Metal note through the deep vocals of singer Dirk". And further: "Sometimes the songs seemed a bit chaotic, but the really good production gave the songs a lot of impact." The American Metal Bulletin Zine listed the components: A brisk drumming, aggressive and wild vocals as well as sharp and sharp guitar solos in connection with realistic texts about drugs, violence and crime. This combination leaves the impression of a brutal thrashing performed with technical adeptness and should be regarded as Thrash Metal, which is one of the most brutal in Europe.

Discogs uses the two styles Thrash Metal and Death Metal.

Self-assessment

Singer Dirk Schiemann commented on the question of style in the September 1991 issue of Metal Hammer : “Actually, I don't necessarily think we're doing real Death Metal. It has something of it, but it's more like a fusion of Death Metal and Thrash. And so many bands don't do that either. Live it might be different, we're a bit coarser there, there is more grunting and such. Well, it's hard to categorize it correctly, doesn't give a shit either. ”Regarding the lyrics, nobody prefers carnage-like. Something like that could only be considered a parody . Rather, one dedicates oneself to war problems or tries to put oneself in the shoes of a raped woman.

reception

Timely reviews

Stefan Glas awarded 3 out of 7 possible points in the Metal Hammer . In the new release ranking for February, only the 24th place (out of 26) jumped out for the album. It got the highest rating with 5 points from Robert Müller, who, however , spoke of laxity in the comparison of The Experience of Horror and his successor Mindwaves a year later . Conversely, Ottger Jeske criticized the new album in Iron Pages for the fact that the brutality of The Experience of Horror had been lost. He still preferred the debut album to the successor.

Frank Trojan, for whom the demo was still “far too amateurish”, welcomed the international standard and awarded 8 out of 10 possible points. He only recognized a slightly “rough” increase in the second album, which he consequently rated just as highly. The album presents itself as a real Death / Thrash album should be, said Gamera Glaub in the Break Out and cited the “powerful production, hard guitars, a brutal singer and interesting songs”. Overall, “good work was done”.

Retrospective evaluations

Johnny Main praised The Experience of Horror was, then as now, a delightful album that members should be proud of. He filled 4 of the 5 beer mugs used as evaluation symbols. Joxe Schaefer found the material to be a solid old school of Thrash, which he expressed in 7 out of 10 possible points. Siegfried Wehkamp's conclusion was: “ The Experience of Horror has lost none of its impact .” He awarded 8 out of 10 points.

All in all, Dave Campbell found the album mediocre. His verdict was 5 out of 10 for songwriting, originality, time value and production. Totentanz editor Schnuller recommended: " As a fan of fast-paced Thrash, you should definitely check out The Experience of Horror ." (The magazine does not award any points.)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g David Laszlo: Assorted Heap (D). In: carnagedeathmetal.de. 2005, accessed July 9, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Assorted Heap - The Experience of Horror. In: discogs.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Assorted Heap . In: Metal Hammer . The international hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine. April 1991, German Metal News, p. 157 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e Johnny Main: Assorted Heap. The Experience of Horror (Re-issue). In: metaltalk.net. February 7, 2016, accessed July 9, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b Stefan Glas: Assorted Heap. The Experience of Horror . In: Metal Hammer . The international hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine. February 1991, LP Reviews, p. 54 .
  6. ↑ a b Robert Müller: Assorted Heap . In: Metal Hammer . The international hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine. September 1991, p. 146 .
  7. ^ A b Frank Trojan: Assorted Heap. The Experience of Horror . In: Rock Hard . No. 47 , February 1991, Record Review, pp. 54 .
  8. ^ A b Frank Trojan: Assorted Heap. Mindwaves . In: Rock Hard . No. 61 , May 1992, Record Review. May 1992, p. 78 .
  9. ^ Fabian Fischer: Atrocity, Assorted Heap. Reutlingen, Poison . In: Rock Hard . No. 59 , March 1992, Live Reviews, pp. 95 .
  10. ↑ a b Gamera Glaub: Assorted Heap. The Experience of Horror […] In: Break Out . The Heavy Rock Magazine. February 1991, plates, p. 31 (possibly Chris Glaub).
  11. ↑ a b c d Dave "That Metal Guy" Campbell: Assorted Heap - The Experience of Horror. In: metal-temple.com. May 27, 2016, accessed July 9, 2016 .
  12. ↑ a b Joxe Schaefer: Assorted Heap - The Experience of Horror. In: crossfire-metal.de. 2016, accessed July 9, 2016 .
  13. ↑ a b (sw) [i. e. Siegfried Wehkamp]: Assorted Heap - The Experience of Horror. Re-release. In: mega-metal.de. 2016, accessed July 9, 2016 .
  14. ↑ a b Schnuller: Assorted Heap - The Experience of Horror. In: totentanz-magazin.de. April 7, 2016, accessed July 9, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Assorted Heap. The Experience of Horror . In: Metal Bulletin Zine . No. 77 , February 21, 2016, News, p. 11 f . ( fuglymaniacs.com [PDF; 7.7 MB ; accessed on July 9, 2016]).
  16. ↑ February '91 . In: Metal Hammer . The international hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine. February 1991, Soundcheck, p. 50 .
  17. ^ Robert Müller: Assorted Heap. Mindwaves . In: Metal Hammer . The international hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine. May 1992, CD / LP / MC Reviews, p. 66 .
  18. ↑ O [Tger] J [esque]: Assorted Heap. "Mindwaves" . In: Iron Pages . The World City Mag. 18, July / August, 1992, record reviews, p. 32 .