By Seth Metoyer, The Crawlspace
I've been on a bit of a Deliverance kick and it got me thinking about my favorite Deliverance albums. I first came across Deliverance back in 1987 on the California Metal release, with their tune 'A Space Called You'.
My thoughts of that time when I was 14 years old are full of great memories. I had the album on vinyl and the cheap Fisher record player my parents bought me spun a little faster than it was supposed to. It made every album from California Metal to Barren Cross Atomic Arena seem faster than they were. Years later when I discovered that the albums played faster than intended by listening to the cassettes, I was stunned!
Ah, the good old days of the '80s. Listening to Christian metal in my room, playing air guitar, drawing MTV and Stryper logos on anything that I could draw on, writing letters to Pastor Bob Beeman from Sanctuary because his image and contact info were inside many of the Christian Metal releases I listened to. Many of you probably know that, because you did it too! I have to be honest though, I kind of stepped away from Deliverance after River Disturbance came out in 1994, and I've only listened to Learn a few times. It has some good songs, but it never really spoke to me on a deeper level.
I have only just recently listened to Camelot in Smithereens for the first time so I don't have much of an opinion on it except that nothing jumped out at me. I need to give it a couple more spins.
As Above - So Below has this kind of an early 2000s Mudvayne meets early Deliverance feel to it, but I've only listened to the album a handful of times. The mix is kind of all over the place, especially the drums. Not a big fan of the snare tone.
Assimilation reminds me of Powerman 5000 meets a couple of other early 2000s Nu-Metal bands. Another album that I've only listened to a couple of times over the years.
I have only listened to pieces of Hear What I Say! and did like what I heard for the most part. Unfortunately, I don't even have a CD player anymore, so I don't listen to physical media. This album isn't on Spotify (we won't get into the streaming debate here), and the YouTube version I heard wasn't encoded well.
What a Joke just missed my Top 5. I do enjoy many of the songs on the album, but there are really only like 7 "real" songs on it, with several short-second tunes and a Christmas song.
That brings us to my list of Top 5 Deliverance albums. Number one might surprise you!
5. Stay of Execution (1992)
Let me just tell you that I really needed this album in my life back in 1992. That was my senior year in Highschool and it was also an album that helped me transition through a move from a small town in Montana to Redondo Beach, CA to attend Sanctuary Church.
The opening drums and intricate guitar rhythm on Stay of Execution opened up windows to my teenage soul. I still have great memories of this entire album, and musically, I think it's one of their strongest entries. I was fortunate to have seen the band play songs from this album back in 1993.
4. The Subversive Kind (2018)
The Subversive Kind really grew on me over the years since its release. It's a great example of giving the fans what they want, going back to some of the band's original punch-you-straight-in-the-face thrash, while also keeping it fresh and updated musically at the same time. This is the best album the band has released since River Disturbance.
3. Weapons of Our Warfare (1990)
Weapons is the album that majority of fans throw to the top of the list, and with good reason. This is the album that put the band on the map, both in Christian metal and secular metal. One of my favorite things I see these days about this album is Jimmy P. Brown II telling fans they will never get a Weapons II. It's hilarious every time I see someone ask about it and him saying that it'll never happen. It cracks me up, and he's right. Get over it folks. The band has progressed beyond that, at least in their vision of the band, and that album is pure 90s metal through and through. I remember when this album was released, I was a 17 year old in high school. I played it for all my metal friends who weren't Christian (I didn't have very many Christian friends who also liked heavy music, so I wanted to share this album with anyone who'd listen).
I remember my brother and I staying up late on Friday night trying to explain to my Dad how cool it was that a Christian Metal band was going to be on mutha-effin MTV Headbangers Ball! He never really understood heavy music, and now that I'm older (48), I still can't figure out why my Dad at 37 years old didn't give this stuff a try. I'm still listening to heavy music, and a lot of it is extreme music at that, like Cattle Decapitation and Pig Destroyer - that kind of heavy music. But I was fortunate that he supported me in my strange love of heavy Christian Music. My Mom was also very supportive and actually dug a lot of the music I was listening to at the time. Boy, to be 17 again jamming to these tunes in my bedroom. Good times.
2. Deliverance (1989)
Deliverance's debut studio album will always hold a soft spot in my heart. Much of it is nostalgia, but you simply cannot look past how good this album is. During a time when all I wanted in my teenage Christian angst was to put on a metal tape that brought the speed, this record did not disappoint my 16-year-old self. From the opening guitar rhythm in Victory, my jaw dropped, I got chills, and the rest of the album just pummeled my earholes for 44 more minutes. I simply loved it. Always will.
1. River Disturbance
This one might come as a surprise to people, but River Disturbance is my favorite Deliverance album. From a musical and production standpoint, this album is a masterpiece (let's just look past "A Little Sleep", it was a time when a lot of bands in the early-mid '90s were including rap artists on songs. It's still a pretty cool jam for what it is though).
The album opens with Belltown, which has everything Deliverance fans at the time wanted from the band. Heavy guitars, Jimmy's Bowie-esq vocal style, down-tuned bass cranking away, etc. But then the album does something magical. It turns into this masterpiece of musical writing.
After I Fell grabs you with these interesting percussions, sweet guitar riffage, and then this heartfelt, deep, slow churning vocal and musical manifestation. This is probably the musician in me speaking, but, you just have to step back in awe when listening to what's unfolding inside your ears.
Next up we have River Disturbance which picks up where After I Fell left off, churning out some mellow aspects, multiple guitar tones, and slower speeds working through a tapestry of beautiful music. Yes, I used the word "beautiful" when describing a Deliverance song. And that's what makes the bridge so much heavier when it comes at you like a suckerpunch to the back of the head.
Speed of Light is another masterfully written piece of music, almost a classical music piece from a songwriting point of view. This song uses so many different layers. Acoustic guitar, perfectly matched bass, and Jimmy P. Brown II's hauntingly powerful vocals. Chills.
The rest of the album moves along well and then we hit You Still Smile, which is one of my favorite ballads of all time. Brilliant piano, harmonizing vocals, and some open heart lyrics that hit with surgical precision. It's up there with ballads that Bowie and Elton John wrote.
All in all, I have always been really blown away by the overall songwriting and musical craftsmanship of this album which still resonates with me to this day. It still makes me smile.
Seth Metoyer is a movie producer, composer, and vocalist/guitarist for the extreme metal band Mangled Carpenter and industrial metal band Brain Matter.
Comments