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JOHAN | 2007-03-06 >>>
 ROOT
"Zjevení"
LP (1990 Zeras)
The chamber is covered by darkness...
...and Root rules in 1990
Today we can dare to talk
about Root debut album as about a cult one. "Zjevení" (means „Revelation“
in Czech) was a real revelation on the Czech scene. It was not the
first extreme metal album here, but it was a very different one.
Mainly there are two big differences. The first one is that the LP
contains almost complet demo "The Trial", the second one is its
satanistic content. Everyone knows that the LP was forerunned by four
demos, one 7inch single and indeed a videoclip "Upálení". The clip was
broadcatsted by Czechoslovakian Television with a demo sound and in
the old line up (with Poly alias Mr. Death, today´s leader of Insania).
He was replaced by Mr. DAN who completed the trio Big Boss - vocals,
Blaskosh – guitar and Black Drum - drums (today in Insania as well).
As the band could not find a bass player, there is no bass on the LP.
Today it definitely does not worth to describe the songs individually,
as most of people know them by heart. I would prefere to point out on
some facts that could be omitted even after several listenings. Then I
will dare to find something to criticize…
And I will start directly by something that could be done somehowe
else and I think in a better way. I take the liberty to claim that by
skipping the intro (a lesson from The Satanic Bible) and also the
spoken beginning of "Upálení" the LP would have a better cadence.
Another thing which I am not totally satisfied with is putting the
song "Cesta zkázy" as the last track, while it logically belongs to
the A-side stuff (there would be enough of space, if the spoken parts
were skipped). Thus on the B side would be some space not only for
"Píseň pro Satana" (now on A side), but also for "Hřbitov" which is
missing on the album and I don´t really understand why. Sure,
everybody must know that "Hřbitov" appeared on compilation"Death Metal
Session" but can this be the reason? The songs "666" and "7 černých
jezdců" also appeared shortly before the LP on 7inch single. So there
is no excuse for the absence of "Hřbitov".
Well, that is the criticism. There is nothing more to criticize, only
to bless. And it is the sound, above all, what deserves it. Recorded
in Citron studio in Ostrava and considered it was back in 1990, it
sounds much much better than other LPs from that time. If I compare it
with Kryptor or Assesor, Root rules. It may be little surprising but
especially the drums sound extraordinarily well.
What is not that surprising is that the most outstanding songs are the
older one, which originally appeared on demos "Reap Of Hell" and "Messengers
From Darkness". "Píseň pro Satana", "Sedm černých jezdců" and "666"
are the best songs on the album. The is no live show without theses
songs… Only instead of Rootan Big Boss sings about Satan. On the other
hand, today almost forgotten "Znamení" should not be underrated. By
his hypnotic majestical voice Big Boss here anticipated his future
smoothing down. The guitars also worth to listen many times in a row.
The second new songs "Démon" was not much interesting for me, neither
when it was released nor today. As I said, the A-side contains almost
complete demo "The Trial". This thematic opus is inspired by the
practice of Spanish inquisition in the 15th century. The lyrics of
"Výslech" contains names of the inquisitional ways of torturing (eg.
garrucha = a tight cord was wound around the arms of the condemned,
the executioner would then throw his entire weight backwards, or the
pressure would be exerted by a lever, tortura de cordeles = rack
torture, tortura del aqua = forced ingestion, water is forced down the
throat and into the stomach) and all the dark story is reaching a
tragical end which is described by "Cesta zkázy", beginning by long
and slow intro, but then hellish fast madness with an excellent solo
in the middle.
Another interesting fact is that the lyrics printied on the inlay
differ from those really recorded. Franta Štorm (it is his hand
writing!) probably transcribed the lyrics from the demos while Big
Boss some of them slightly changed in the studio. The most striking
are the changes in "Sedm černých jezdců" where the recorded and the
written lyrics differ most, almost each sentence is different.
Franta Štorm was also the metal graphic designer no. 1. Big Boss´s
horror make up was really not possible to pass by in any shop. However
the back side I appreciate much more. Big inverted cross on the
natural scenery backgroud (with the band photo inside).
The LP is a real gem and not many things could be done better. Anyway,
it was definitely the best Czech album in 1990.
PS:
After publishing the Czech version of this review Big Boss gave a
notice where I was wrong. "Hřbitov" could not on this LP because of
the contracts with different labels. "Hřbitov" was released by Direkt
Records, while "Zjeveni" by Zeras Records. I am sorry for the
confusion in my review. |
