NOCTURNUS — The Key (review)

NOCTURNUS — The Key album cover Album · 1990 · Technical Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Vim Fuego
How do you like your Satanism? Half-baked and cartoon-ish, like Slayer? Space cadet style, praising the Ancient Ones like Morbid Angel? Perhaps you prefer the straight-for-the-throat style of Glen Benton and Deicide. Well guess what? You can get all three in one nice, neat little package. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 'The Key'.

But then, how do you like your death metal? Well, if you are a Morbid Angel fan and you do not have this, track it down immediately. It is like listening to Morbid Angel on a Walkman (young readers please note: a Walkman was a primitive iPod) while riding a roller coaster. Before Nocturnus, drummer/vocalist Mike Browning was a member of Morbid Angel, and is at least as deranged as Trey Azagthoth, if not more so, but more of that later. As a drummer, he rivals Pete Sandoval for technicality, speed and brutality. However, Nocturnus live would have been interesting, because it is hard to believe Browning could keep up the tempo and sing at the same time.

Nocturnus were considered revolutionary at the time this album was recorded. Aside from being one of the heaviest and most technical bands around, they added keyboards to their musical typhoon. While such a thing may seem trivial now, it was big news in 1990. Louis Panzer's keyboards added a space rock/sci-fi feel to the technical death blasts. While death metal bands had used keyboards in the studio before, Nocturnus was first to make them an integral part of the band. "BC/AD" and "Droid Sector" made good use of effects in their introductions, but the standout track, as far as keyboards go, is "Lake Of Fire". A UFO-type oscillating wail underpins the entire song, with drums and guitars playing off and weaving around it.

If that sounds like your cup of tea, just hold off for a moment. Do you think you can handle the warped world of Mike Browning's lyrics? The main reason for this band not hitting the death metal big time was the subject matter of the songs. And here are the shades of Satanism. First, Slayer: "Destroying The Manger" is all about destroying Christ as a child, by um... building a time machine, and zapping back to 0 A.D. "Droid Sector" is equally as adolescent. Shades of Morbid Angel? "Empire Of The Sands" and "Lake Of Fire" have a Sumerian feel to them, and touch on elemental themes. And "BC/AD", "Visions From Beyond The Grave" and "Standing In Blood" are straight from the Deicide school of eviler-than-thou theology.

Unfortunately, this band lost it in a big way. Instead of maturing, the next album 'Thresholds' was even sillier thematically, which even the semi-revolutionary ultra-technical approach to death metal could not compensate for. 'The Key' could almost be considered in the league of 'Altars Of Madness', but instead of a launching point for a strong career, it was a high point before obscurity.
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