Poison - Further Down Into The Abyss - Reviews

Armin Weber- Vocals
Uli Hildenbrand- Guitar, Vocals
Andi Krampuk- Bass, Vocals
Alex Gilliar- Drums

I'm not entirely sure where to begin with this one, other than to say that next to last year's Bedemon reissue, this is by FAR the most overdue re-release to see the light of day, possibly EVER. Really, what band has been traded with more feverish fervor in the true underground than Poison, a band that EASILY ranks amongst Germany's Unholy Trinity in terms of importance, influence and intensity? What other band of their ilk can claim to have quite as much significance in the development of first wave death metal? Hellhammer, Possessed, Master/Death Strike/Funeral Bitch, Vulcano, Mantas/Death, Incubus, Slaughter, Necrovore, Sepultura, Sacrifice, Pentagram (Chile), the ubiquity of all these bands in most metal fans' historical understanding of death metal's evolution has been assured by the relative ease of obtaining high quality recordings of each. While said bands have languished in the posthumous praise showered upon them by death metal historians, Poison have suffered at the brunt of degraded dub and mp3 rips, anxious fans having to bear with the relatively haphazard reproductions of Poison demos offered by the tapetrading circuit. Bizarrely, even the post- Poison act, the sublime R.U. Dead? received a fantastic reissue treatment some years back, and no knock on the band, but they PALED in terms of significance to extreme metal!

So yes, thank you Costa Stoios for doing something that folks should have done CENTURIES ago, culling and collecting all the NECESSARY Poison material on one handy, lovingly crafted compilation. You are truly a worthy centurion of true steel, and I salute you for taking the time to do the same for Messiah and Massacre. Layout here is as noteworthy as with the aforementioned releases, the booklet being the host for a number of rare photos, as well as a Snakepit interview with Uli. As a historical document and an ode to a GODLY band, I could not really ask for very much more- this is clearly an endeavor undertaken by someone who genuinely LOVES heavy metal and dearly wishes to share this overwhelming passion with like-minded metal geekazoids.

On to the music, then! What must be noted at the outset is the stylistic chasm that exists between Poison's far rawer, gnarlier, first wave DM demos and the MAGNIFICENT epic thrash that fuels their sole MLP, 'Into The Abyss'. Instead of presenting everything in progressive chronological order, this release works backwards, and we are greeted with the four lofty numbers on said MLP first. Try and imagine, then, Onslaught's 'The Force' being executed with the grit and conviction of 'Power From Hell', 'Forward To Termination' with the violent vitriol of 'Torment In Fire', 'Schizophrenia' by way of 'Morbid Visions'. What I mean by all this is, of course, that this is relentless, unreserved and unapologetic RIFF-FLINGING that somehow manages to strike a compromise between flesh-tearing, raw-as-tartare black/death metal and a sharper, more thoughtful rifforama THRASH approach.

The results, of course, make for RELENTLESS headbanging- “Sphinx” is an Egyptian themed Lovecraftian hellraiser (played in Egyptian scales, of course!), BLINDINGLY fast and OUTRAGEOUSLY cruel. Building up from an insistent, ominous Sacrifice-esque intro, Uli shifts seamlessly into uncompromisingly speedy, urgent picking that comes off like Urbinati meets Azagthoth. Things slow down significantly for a ponderous, foreboding hook, the vocals of Virgin Slaughter injecting HORRIFIC HEFT into the oppressive HPL lyrics: “Walls of darkness…will entomb you…Fear the unknown…Heed the living SPHINX-AHHHHHRGHH!”. Horror metal at its very finest, surely! A brilliant solo dances effortlessly atop a spiraling vortex of speed picked chords, and though the band dwell on largely the same ideas for the duration of the track, I earnestly feel as though the riffs could be repeated ad nauseam for 20 minutes with no ill effect, the riff is THAT fantastic. Cum “Lurking Fear”, I can't help but be reminded of early Sacrifice yet again- there is that same unhinged, maniacal, just-tight-enough intensity that permeates this recording, the same dense, yet open and somewhat loose ferocity that adds considerable weight to the ferocity and identity of the band. Factor in the highly idiosyncratic playing, particularly on the part of the drummer- check out that ÜBER COOL hi-hat work on the hook, almost Tommy Destruction- esque in originality.

“Slaves (Of The Crucifix)” is, again, another textbook example of dynamic, unabashedly adventurous death/thrash, the band stampeding through various tempo changes between verse, chorus and bridge, as well as traversing an entire gamut of EXCELLENT riffing….this is the band's fucking “From The Past Come The Storms” , absolutely MARVELLOUS riff-chucking with just enough structure to prevent everything from collapsing into meaningless riff salad. Fast forward to the 6 minute mark, and you'll be greeted with a fond throwback to Poison's earlier incarnation as purveyors of graverobbing post- “Buried Alive” sludge, back when Poison were, along with Slaughter, Hellhammer's closest kindred brothers in terms of obscure, occult death metal. Another frighteningly effective, simplistic solo, and we're back to the barreling main riff, what a fucking song. “Requiem/Alive (Undead)” provides a brief reprieve from the frenzied, foaming-at-the-mouth ferocity, only to cascade into the most chaotic blur of riffing, very MUCH bringing to mind demo-era Death/Mantas or perhaps Italy's Schizo at this point. Enter Hellhammer-esque FILTH for the hook, and commence BANGING YOUR FUCKING HEAD. Again, the very slight sloppiness/looseness of the performance really accents the MANIACAL edge of the music, buttressing the unmistakable uniqueness of a fantastic band.

What follows, then, is a rehearsal session featuring various ideas that would be expanded and elaborated upon for the MLP, and though the quality of the recordings and their execution pale considerably to those recorded for the more focused and menacing 'Into The Abyss', it is nice to see how these ideas evolved into different segments of the album, and for the most part many ideas were forsaken/eschewed for the actual record- “Satan Commands” would be right at home on 'Torment On Fire' next to “Homicidal Breath” , absolute SKULLFUCKING, non-stop DEATH/THRASH of the highest caliber, the band taking a surprising (or not?) lefthand turn 02:41 through for a DEVASTATING “The Reaper”- esque doom breakdown, given apocalyptic bulk by the totally EXTREME shrieks of Virgin Slaughter, outdoing even the likes of Messiah's Tschösi in terms of spleen-rupturing madness. “Zombie Dance” is more of the same, basically a formidable complement to “ Sphinx” with its rather exotic scales and arrangement. Here, I can't help but draw a comparison to Tirant Sin, there is the same breathless, almost Dark Angel- esque mercilessness. “Angel Of Satan” will plaster a shit-faced grin across every motherfucker who has ever flown the banner for Hellhammer, Azagthoth or 'In The Sign Of Evil' Sodom, sloppy, morbid, malevolent tombstone-desecrating despondency all the bloody way.

If you have dedicated yourself to the cause of amassing all the Poison demos, you are already aware of the extremely coarse sound quality of even the best rips and dubs. The fact that certain of the more unlistenable Poison recordings have been nixed here will please many, but the fact that even the offerings from 'Bestial Death', 'Live Terror' and 'Awakening Of The Dead' sound this muddy may dismay and dissuade all but the most fervent death metal diehards. “Possessed (By Hell)”, of course, remains the biggest culprit here, being collected from the notoriously horrid-sounding 'Sons Of Evil' tape, which undoubtedly featured the rawest, most “inept” Poison material, coming across like Repulsion or Reencarnacion with half the finesse and a hundredth of the songwriting ability. Certainly not one of the brighter moments in Poison's history, and clearly an exercise in extremity for extremity's sake. Faring far better are the diabolical, reverb-drenched “Wake The Dead”, clearly the home for some embryonic ideas for 'Into The Abyss', the messy, murderous “Black Death”, as well as the brazenly simplistic, tumbling “Witchfynde” , which features one of the most endearingly incompetent solos this side of Tom G Warrior and Rick Rozz.

I earnestly hope that, at this point, after having lavished all sorts of superlatives upon a band that really needs no introduction to all ardent acolytes of nasty, carnivorous death metal, I will not need to flog a dead horse by telling you to buy this fucking thing. This should be OBVIOUS to you, the disciple of all things heavy and metal. To say this band was one of a kind would be an understatement, and you owe it to yourself to rediscover the black magic of an irreplaceable CULT.