Review by JD on April 28, 2012.

Out of the sleepy state of South Dakota, where usually the most fun that you can ever have is getting drunk and pushing over sleeping cows under a full moon or try to impregnate your neighbours daughter without the father catching you comes a band that puts ‘blood, guts and gore’ back into the metal lexicon, and then some as well. Alcohol paralysed Hillbillies and the mentally slow need to beware - the Tennessee Murder Club is looking for its next victim...er...fan.

This may be nothing out of the ordinary for Death Metal, but Tennessee Murder Club is in a blood soaked and murderous category all by themselves, pounding out very solid old school Death Metal with an added ferocity that usually comes from extreme Black Metal. Each horrific song lyric that tell the tale of suffering, eradication and how to do killings, seems to top any of the Stephen King masterpieces, yet seems to always lead into another story of perverse disembowelment and the humans capable of such sadistic things.

Listening to the bloodletting that every Tennessee Murder Club song gives, shows that a new crop of Death Metal is alive and kicking ass. Each eviscerating word and brain spattered thought send with the bludgeoning music is 100% pure blood-letting Death Metal. Nastiness comes on a disk with eleven of the most gore splattered songs ever. They have not done anything new to Death Metal, but they have firmly defined it once again.

I have been waiting for some true Death Metal to re-appear and set the bar higher in the scene for people to strive for and now my wish has become true. Looks like the Tennessee Murder Club has truly brought it back with no nonsense Death Metal at is glorious and blood splattered best.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9
Originality: 8
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Review by JD on May 31, 2010.

Japan is a very eclectic and unapologetic unusual sort of community in the world cultural place, but it is one that really has come into its own. Heavy Metal is a seriously huge deal in the land of the rising sun, but their take on what actually is Heavy Metal is to them is more than just a little bit different than the rest of the world seems to have.... that is why this album stood out like a full side of beef at a worldwide vegan convention.

You have for your perusal, Outrage... a Japan based band that has been around the metal scene for awhile in their country but had up and disappeared for a few years... and now we can thank God that the have emerged and North America now can hear them. They arrive and announce themselves with pride, daring the metal communities on our shores to try and ignore them.

Combine the musicality of Metallica with the brutal talent like a early career Testament that have some clear Annihilator traits as well... you get the sound of a band that truly thrashes hard as any out there.. Yet there was this sort of ‘surprise’ waiting on the album. Oddly, there are Hair Metal power ballads on the album that are straight out of the late 80's radio airplay.... it is perhaps nearly blasphemous to jus that a band can thrash as hard as they were on most of the disk, then do a couple of sickly sweet sort of power ballad that does not go with the rest of the tracks, yet that is the paradox in the Japanese metal world.

The heavy parts of the album hold the best as it is some really good early Thrash/Power Metal... but the ballads have to eliminated and destroyed. Buy the album for the heaviness and sheer power of it, and I guess you can hopefully ignore the sappy stuff... if Outrage gets a foothold over here, they need to stop recording the wimpy stuff and go with their true strengths
that they show here. Power Metal!!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:9
Atmosphere: 7 (The ballads did the damage here)
Production: 8.5
Originality: 8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Review by JD on May 31, 2010.

Japan is a very eclectic and unapologetic unusual sort of community in the world cultural place, but it is one that really has come into its own. Heavy Metal is a seriously huge deal in the land of the rising sun, but their take on what actually is Heavy Metal is to them is more than just a little bit different than the rest of the world seems to have.... that is why this album stood out like a full side of beef at a worldwide vegan convention.

You have for your perusal, Outrage... a Japan based band that has been around the metal scene for awhile in their country but had up and disappeared for a few years... and now we can thank God that the have emerged and North America now can hear them. They arrive and announce themselves with pride, daring the metal communities on our shores to try and ignore them.

Combine the musicality of Metallica with the brutal talent like a early career Testament that have some clear Annihilator traits as well... you get the sound of a band that truly thrashes hard as any out there.. Yet there was this sort of ‘surprise’ waiting on the album. Oddly, there are Hair Metal power ballads on the album that are straight out of the late 80's radio airplay.... it is perhaps nearly blasphemous to jus that a band can thrash as hard as they were on most of the disk, then do a couple of sickly sweet sort of power ballad that does not go with the rest of the tracks, yet that is the paradox in the Japanese metal world.

The heavy parts of the album hold the best as it is some really good early Thrash/Power Metal... but the ballads have to eliminated and destroyed. Buy the album for the heaviness and sheer power of it, and I guess you can hopefully ignore the sappy stuff... if Outrage gets a foothold over here, they need to stop recording the wimpy stuff and go with their true strengths
that they show here. Power Metal!!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:9
Atmosphere: 7 (The ballads did the damage here)
Production: 8.5
Originality: 8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.2 out of 10