BraveWords.com's Top 30 Metal Blade Releases Of All Time - #23
January 23, 2012, 12 years ago
To commemorate the fine 30th Anniversary of metal’s most venerable and storied label, Metal Blade Records, the writers of BraveWords.com have gotten their metalheads together and come up with a list of the Top 30 coolest, most legendary, rockingest, most influential, most deserving of fame and notoriety, releases founder/CEO Brian Slagel and crew have issued since forging the fire way back in mom’s garage in 1982. As has become tradition ‘round here, we are presenting them – through January and February – in reverse order, leading eventually to the penultimate slab of iron ever to carry an esteemed Metal Blade catalogue number.
By Chris Tighe
It must be tough for a band to follow an album that is universally acclaimed as their best, knowing that whatever they put out will be unfairly compared to said opus, rather than the catalogue as a whole. The relevance in this case is that Revelations happens to be the follow-up to VADER’s Litany masterpiece. The Polish death metal gurus decided to follow the same path that MOTORHEAD took with their Iron Fist release, putting their heads down and giving fans basically more of the same (rather than pulling a 360 like JUDAS PRIEST did with Point Of Entry). Like Iron Fist, Revelations is an album that was largely ignored at its release, but has become more appreciated over time. Sure, it doesn’t quite live up to its illustrious predecessor, but, man, this still levels most of the DM competition. The intermittent mix of choppy rhythms interspersed within the blow-back-your-hair speed and Piotr’s distinctive growl, which make up Vader’s core sound, still resonates today. Revelations is definitely worth a revisit for death metal fiends who haven’t imbibed in its punishing beauty lately.
#30) FALCONER – Falconer (2001)
#29) KING’S X – Black Like Sunday (2003)
#28) LETHAL – Programmed (1990)
#27) SACRIFICE – Apocalypse Inside (1993)
#26) CANNIBAL CORPSE – Kill (2006)
#25) THE RED CHORD - Fed Through The Teeth Machine (2009)
#24) THE CROWN – Deathrace King (2000)
#23) VADER – Revelations (2002)
