Vengeance Rising: Looking Back at 30
Among the several claims made about the musical universe, one of those that almost finds no rebuttal is that the magical '80s were the best time for metal music. Most of the bastions of the scene either began or were consolidated in this period that was intensely prolific, speaking of heavy music. And it was in 1986 in South Bay, CA that it began to breed what would later become Vengeance.
Some changes in the line-up, a cult demo released the following year and blazing shows paved the way Vengeance went through to release their long awaited debut album in 1988.
“I remember the day I got my first copy of that Vengeance demo on cassette tape with that red cover and killer Vengeance logo. I had been looking for something heavier in the Christian realm for a while and couldn’t find anything comparable that really stuck with me. When I first played that tape and heard the music and message of Vengeance I knew the Christian music scene was about to change and Vengeance were the ones to take Christian Metal to the Extreme.” (Bill Bafford – Roxx Records)
In a contract signed with Intense Records, Roger Martinez (vocals), Larry Farkas and Doug Thieme (guitars), Roger Dale Martin (bass) and Glen Mancaruso (drums) quickly locked themselves up at Neverland Studio in Los Alamitos, CA where, in the night time (in order to save money), they recorded, mixed and mastered the 13 tracks of Human Sacrifice.
"The recording process was a time of deep fellowship for all 5 of us. It was very relaxed and we felt that God had our back. So we let it flow out and some great things happened on the album by pure inspiration. And it would crack us up!
My fondest memory of the recording process was when Doug was inspired to pull the cable out of his guitar, put his finger on the tip, creating the most annoying sound ever heard on earth. It was unanimously chosen for his guitar solo on “Beheaded”!" (Roger Dale Martin - bass)
"Our original goal for the record was for it to sound like you were standing there in the room with us, just raw and heavy, nothing over produced and no reverb to muddy things up." (Glen Mancaruso - drums)
The sonority shaped from names like Slayer and Venom shocked not only the social circle of the members, but an entire musical scene already existing. This is due to the fact that Vengeance was a band of Christian ideology and was the first to launch a metal album so violent and extreme with this theme. As said by the press at the time "they make the Stryper sound like a soft pop band." Much persecution, criticism and prejudice have been distilled, but let's talk about what matters: music, and on that subject they never disappointed!
There are 13 compositions that border the 40 minutes of raw, visceral thrash metal. The title track (a composition inherited from former guitarist Glenn Rogers) is the principle of chaos. Metal punch in the face, kick in the rib and open doors to the mosh, sound violence in essence! There's also a lot of hardcore, as we can see from the triad of mini-songs, "Receive Him" ('Napalm Death', 'Suffrage'), "Salvation" (12 seconds of pure and unbridled milling) and "He Is God" where vocalist R. Martinez accomplish an insane tongue twister singing the short but extremely fast lyrics in this 55-second track, and guitar solos in profusion, as demonstrated in the instrumental "Ascension," a true class perpetuated by Larry Farkas, a handful and unfortunately little recognized shredder.
By the way, speaking on guitar, the pair Doug and Larry knew how to implement well the traditional heavy metal footprint in the band's sound. We have "Mulligan Stew" with a very bluesy vibe, "I Love Hating Evil" and its very melodic beginning, almost being something of NWOBHM. If it comes to riffs we are very well served too. "White Throne" and "Fill This Place With Blood" are the tracks with the most outstanding examples, since a simple hearing is enough to drive them into the memory.
The rhythmic part of the band is the one that every band searches for. Firm, cohesive and extremely competent. By the introductions of "Burn" and "Fatal Delay" we already see that bass and drums (respectively speaking) not so here just to fulfill their role, on the contrary, they put their best foot forward! Set in the midway between thrash and death metal, "From The Dead" and "Beheaded" are more direct and mature compositions that could easily be in the repertoire of any great name of the style.
"When Human Sacrifice came out I wore the tape out and still have this one in heavy rotation 30 years later!" (Bill Bafford)
The iconic cover depicts a representation of one of the hands of Christ already nailed to the cross and made with some set design tricks and has Pastor Bob Beeman as "special guest" who was very important for the development of the band in its first steps. [photo 04]
Shortly after the release of the album, the band was notified about the existence of another Vengeance, so to avoid further legal complications, the quintet came to be called Vengeance Rising. The subsequent pressings of Human Sacrifice also underwent this change and thus the original versions became the desired object by the collectors worldwide.
01 Human Sacrifice (2:36)
02 Burn (3:49)
03 Mulligan's Stew (3:00)
04 Receive Him (:04)
05 I Love Hating Evil (3:55)
06 Fatal Delay (3:15)
07 White Throne (3:08)
08 Salvation (:13)
09 From the Dead (4:36)
10 Ascension [Instrumental] (5:23)
11 He Is God (:50)
12 Fill this Place With Blood (2:49)
13 Beheaded (3:10)
Much time went by until Human Sacrifice won re-releases at the height of its legacy and importance.
The first one happened in 2010 through Intense Millenium Records label (okay, there was a 2-in-1 version joining Human Sacrifice with Once Dead, the band's second album, in a single package, but since it was an extremely poor release, it's better not to comment). There were 1000 units only, with an 8-page insert, and you could choose between the original cover (only as Vengeance) or an updated rereading.
In addition to memories of the members at that time and Pastor Bob Beeman and many rare photos, we have the inclusion of 4 bonus tracks, 3 live songs recorded in 1987 and a dispensable interview. For the first 100 buyers, a bonus disc was released containing the demo (unfortunately the transfer of the tape to digital archive was not 100% faithful and there is a problem right at the end of the song "Human Sacrifice") and a bootleg of the band at Cornerstone '88, where the album was almost entirely played whole. The quality of the recording is very precarious, but it's amazing to see how aggressive and bombastic the band was on the stage. You notice that each one is there as if their lives depended on it. Those who witnessed this and the other concerts of the album touring are really lucky people!
01 Human Sacrifice
02 Burn
03 Mulligan's Stew
04 Receive Him
05 I Love Hating Evil
06 Fatal Delay
07 White Throne
08 Salvation
09 From the Dead
10 Ascension [Instrumental]
11 He Is God
12 Fill this Place With Blood
13 Beheaded
14 Prodigal Son (Live 1987)
15 Beheaded (Live 1987)
16 Salvation (Live 1987)
17 Interview: The Music Of Vengeance
Bonus CD: Demo 1987 + Live At Cornerstone 1988
01 White Throne (Demo 1987)
02 He Is God (Demo 1987)
03 Salvation (Demo 1987)
04 Beheaded (Demo 1987)
05 Human Sacrifice (Demo 1987)
06 Intro (Live at Cornestone 1988)
07 Fatal Delay (Live at Cornestone 1988)
08 Fill this Place With Blood (Live at Cornestone 1988)
09 White Throne (Live at Cornestone 1988)
10 Human Sacrifice (Live at Cornestone 1988)
11 From the Dead (Live at Cornestone 1988)
12 Ascension [Instrumental] (Live at Cornestone 1988)
13 I Love Hating Evil (Live at Cornestone 1988)
14 Burn (Live at Cornestone 1988)
15 He Is God (Live at Cornestone 1988)
16 Mulligans Stew (Live at Cornestone 1988)
17 Beheaded (Live at Cornestone 1988)
In 2013, in celebration of the 25 years of its release, the album was re-released by Roxx Productions label in a beautiful picture disc limited to 300 numbered units that quickly sold out. In this edition the original photo of the cover received a special treatment, resulting in a cleaner and clearer image.
The sound itself has not undergone major changes, but it is clear that the charm of listening to the disc in total quality in the best format to enjoy the metal is undeniable.
A side
01 Human Sacrifice
02 Burn
03 Mulligan's Stew
04 Receive Him
05 I Love Hating Evil
06 Fatal Delay
B Side
07 White Throne
08 Salvation
09 From the Dead
10 Ascension [Instrumental]
11 He Is God
12 Fill this Place With Blood
13 Beheaded
In 2017, a limited edition of CD of the album (again by Roxx) was released in 300 copies with the cover of the picture disc, with memoirs written by bassist Roger Dale Martin and bonus demo released in 1987. Unlike the version presented on the extra disc in 2010, here we can appreciate with total quality the wistful cassette tape. The sound raw and rough but sincere, honest. It deserves a lot to be complimented the work of transferring the original demo files and remastering the package as a whole. Never has Vengeance and its Human Sacrifice sounded as good as here.
01 Human Sacrifice
02 Burn
03 Mulligan's Stew
04 Receive Him
05 I Love Hating Evil
06 Fatal Delay
07 White Throne
08 Salvation
09 From the Dead
10 Ascension [Instrumental]
11 He Is God
12 Fill this Place With Blood
13 Beheaded
14 White Throne (Demo 1987)
15 He Is God (Demo 1987)
16 Salvation (Demo 1987)
17 Beheaded (Demo 1987)
18 Human Sacrifice (Demo 1987)
For the 30 years of Human Sacrifice another re-release took place. Would it be necessary, since it is still kind of easy to find copies of the 2010 and 2017 versions? What would this new reprint have? The subtitle already delivers. [photo 15]
This is the first mix of the album that was not used at that time by the label, who chose to remix the album seeking something "cleaner." Despite having achieved a certain commercial success with this version, the members always preferred the first mix as it would go more according to their view on how the band should sound. This material has been shelved until now, when once again Roxx Records released a commemorative edition of the album. And my friends, what a difference exists from that first mix to the one that was released commercially!!!
The crudeness of the sound is evident. Pure thrash metal still very close to the roots of death metal, something very "in the face." There's that charming, muffling sound, which ends up enhancing the aggressiveness and weight of the songs. According to the members, this is the sound that was closer to what the band was on stage, closer to the real feeling they were trying to come up with the songs. This version also shows the order of the intended (but not used) track list on the official release. I do not intend to repeat music for music, but it's worth mentioning that both "Mulligan Stew" and "Receive Him" appear in "extended" versions, which was a nice addition to the material.
01 Human Sacrifice
02 From the Dead
03 Ascension [Instrumental]
04 Receive Him
05 Burn
06 Fatal Delay
07 White Throne
08 Salvation
09 I Love Hating Evil
10 Fill this Place With Blood
11 He Is God
12 Mulligan's Stew
13 Beheaded
"The owner of our record label gave that first mix to our then distribution company Sparrow/Word and they balked at the mix claiming it was to dry. So they brought in another engineer to remix it and added a bunch of effects that we didn't really want on there in the first place, and that’s what our fans ended up with when Human Sacrifice was originally released.
Before that first mix was handed over to the record label, the owner of our record company had given each of us band members a copy of that rough dry mix to listen to and make any needed changes. Over the years those tapes of that mix were lost. Fast forward to 2018 and a friend of ours happened to still have a copy of that first rough mix that he had gotten from us back in 88' and with the help of Roxx Records that is what was remastered and reprinted here for your listening pleasure, on the 30th Anniversary of Human Sacrifice… enjoy!" (Glen Mancaruso)
"WOW, has it already been 30 years since Human Sacrifice was released? It has been such an honor and privilege for me to have been able to work on all of the various reissues of this classic album. It has been an album that had a true impact on me then and now, and it is absolutely amazing that it is still out there and making an impact on people today both young and old! Thank you to Roger, Larry, Doug, Roger and Glen for taking the Christian Metal scene to the next level and making some of the most impacting music on my life to this day." (Bill Bafford)
Time proved that both Vengeance (or Vengeance Rising, as you prefer) and its Human Sacrifice have their place reserved in history, in the hall of the great and stainless world metal works.
It's not difficult to find bands that have paid tribute to the album either by recording some cover of their repertoire or even playing some live sound (sometimes even inspiring to name a band, like Hating Evil, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
The truth is, directly or indirectly, Vengeance opened many doors with its debut album, showing that bands that make use of Christian ideology can rather make an extreme sound and quality, and damn the 'from hell' people who disagree with it.
Thank you Vengeance, thank you for Human Sacrifice.
-Márllon Matos
Thanks List: Roger Martinez, Larry Farkas, Doug Thieme, Roger Dale Martin, Glen Mancaruso, Bill Bafford (Roxx Records) , Scott Waters (NoLifeTilMetal.com), Anderson Lima
Photos: Personal archive (02,08 – 12,14,18) , Anderson Lima (05 e 06), Bill Bafford (17), Scott Waters (16) e internet reproduction (01,03,04,07,13,19).
Reprinted and translated into English by permission.
*Originally published by Metal Na Lata website (www.metalnalata.com.br)
