Nocturnus - The Key

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9.8/10

It's funny how the littlest things can easily lead to something big. All it took was a picture of Trey Azagthoth wearing a Nocturnus t-shirt inside Morbid Angel's "Gateways to Annihilation" to spark my interest in this band. I'm always on the lookout for new bands, and seeing how Trey is one of my favorite guitarists of all time and Gateways is one of my favorite albums of all time, I definately decided to check them out. And wow, I'm glad I did.

After reading up on the band a little bit I realized that they were revolutionary in that they were one of, if not THE first death metal band to incorporate keyboards to a main part of their sound. What also made them stand out were their lyrical themes, which were more space and sci-fi focused rather than the outright satanism/gore found in most early DM bands (although "The Key" has its share of that too, just in far less amounts and in a sci-fi way). All of this seemed interesting, but I wasn't expecting to be impressed by them musically. I was expecting just plain typical death metal with keyboards backing it up. But I was happily surprised when "Lake of Fire" came on.... the keyboards were used very well to add a cosmic feel to the album, the riffs were great, the production was excellent (except for one little problem, its hard to hear the bass drums and as a result the drumming sounds worse than it actually is), and it just had that kickass "old-school DM" feel to it.

What really took me by surprise, however, was the incredible guitar playing. Guitarists Mike Davis and Sean McNenney shred non-stop throughout the album. The guitar solos are amazing, and guess what? They are all over the place. Ive never heard a death metal album with so many guitar solos.... these guys are insane. This is some damn good guitar playing, anyone who likes good guitar playing should hear this album.

This album was released in 1991 and bestowed with great critical response when it came out, and it sold 50,000 copies, and excellent number especially for a debut. Their high status in the DM scene should have been secure, but unfortunately soon after their excellent 2nd album "Thresholds", the band broke up and they were pretty much forgotten about, ultimately never gaining the amount of respect they deserved. They reformed in 2000 however, and realeased Ethereal Tomb (which I have yet to hear), but unfortunately they broke up yet again. This time for good.

"The Key" is essential classic death metal. Because of their very early breakup, they aren't as well known as they should be, but if you are a fan of DM and especially old school DM, or awesome guitar playing as well, you should check this album out immediately.

Standout tracks: Lake of Fire, Standing in Blood, Andromeda Strain

[Life Sucks]

Yeah, that is a great CD. It is well written and the guitarists are very good. I think that keyboards are used a little bit too much though; there are some passages that would actually sound better without the added keyboards. But that is a very small detail. The Key is a great CD, and the band is terribly underrated.