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| Rampage This End Up UHR666 |
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Tracklist
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Band
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Production NotesRecorded July-October 1998 in Bloody Leg Studios, Stockbrige, GA. Produced by Lord Vic. |
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About this album
Rampage's first full-length release, unleashed on the world on Walpurgisnacht in the triple year of our Satanic Lord (i.e. 666x3 - you do the math...). It's 56 minutes of insane old-school black/death/thrash metal recalling the glory days of old, proud stalwarts like Possessed, Nasty Savage, Destruction, and others. It was deleted from print in 2004 but is now available on The Bleeding Edge.
Reviews
First off, RAMPAGE is NOT retro-thrash. Old-school '80s metal IS Rampage front man Lord Vic's life! He even told me he doesn't buy too much newer death
metal. This End Up, while being a deceiving title, is the name of Rampage's new full-length offering. The cover/title concept is actually quite fucking cool and
humorous.
Any of you who have dealt with Vic know he breathes, eats and sleeps '80s metal like POSSESSED, NASTY SAVAGE and tons of other old-school bands.
Take the attitude and lyrics of that time, mix it with the death metal sound and vocals and you have a heaping helping of Rampage. Right from the start, This
End Up blew me away with the opener "Bloody Leg". Goofy title? Yes. Goofy lyrics? Yes. Killer music? Fuck yes. The catchiest riffs on this entire album are
in that song. Other kick ass songs would be "The Gates of the Abyss", "Satanic Death" and "Six Bells at Midnight". And what is and '80s metal band without
a theme song? Rest easy 'cause there's a song called "Rampage" about half-way through this aural pummeling. The band also does a few covers: "Eye of the
Hellstorm", by the now-defuct local Atlanta band DISJECTA MEMBRA, an updated version of Elvis Presley's "Jail House Rock" (now titled "Jailhouse Rock 98
(Emperor Mix)" - the lyrics rule!) and a really good cover of NASTY SAVAGE's "Witches Sabbath".
I could do without the solos, but for all I know, Vic put them on here just to spite me! For the most part the vocals are good death/thrash vocals, but I'm not too
into the clean vocals. If you're looking for some '80s-styled metal that's not a complete rip-off of the oldies, try this stuff.
taken from Eternal Frost #5,
written by goden
Quite possibly the finest Rampage release to date, "This End Up" is a huge leap forward from the bands debut "Misogyny..." EP. Whereas the first release ran
the gamut of musical styles (and may have suffered because of this in the opinion of some (although not mine)), "This End Up" is firmly rooted in the old
school proto-death/black/thrash vein. An obvious point of reference would be Possessed's "Seven Churches" (as should be clear to anyone who glances upon
the artwork for this release), but don't take this to be a parody or a copy-cat of the above mentioned slab-o-death : Rampage have their own particularly morbid
take on the genre, and while infused with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour, a parody this is most certainly NOT. From the opening riff of "Bloody Leg"
to the final seconds of "Eye of the Hellstorm" (not counting the "secret" bonus tracks to be found on most of the bands releases), Rampage manage to bring
back the spirit of what metal USED to be about before the hijacking of the style by numerous baggy-pant wearing trendoids and their baseball cap brethren.
Remember when bright orange hair and plastic pants would be reason enough for a severe beating ? You will. Remember when headbanging and shoving "the
horns" in the air at gigs were the norm ? You will. Remember when how hard and fast a band played was more important than what brand of mascara they
wore ? You will. Rampage will take you back to a glorious era when metal was still metal and very little else mattered. I suppose I could go into a track by
track breakdown, or comment on the individual musical components which make "This End Up" such a roller coaster ride of a listening experience, but as is
the case with many things worth their while, words could hardly do them justice, and such isolation and emphasis on individual factors simply can't convey the
appropriate level of how it's the COHESION of all the elements which make this such a great fucking album. Let me just say this : in 10 years time when yet
another nostalgic revival of the glorious metal past comes around, this will be one of those albums that will be whispered about with reverence if there's any
sort of justice in the world, and you would be a fool not to pick this up now while it's still available instead of bitching and moaning about it's unavailability in the
future. You have been warned...
taken from LARM,
written by ChorazaiM
What a chuckle I had seeing the cover art for this, a ripoff of the debut from Possessed 'Seven Churches'! Then the first song "Bloody
Leg" convinced me Rampage were cool and sincere, reminding the underground of our roots. The guitars rip off your face (Face/Off
was a great flick by the way, wasn't it?), and slice off yer tits and rub them into the cement. Ballsy distorted bass. Cool demo quality,
sharp plugged into mixing board sound.
Old school inspired death/thrash/metal. I detect influences of early DEATH, SLAUGHTER, POSSSESSED, EXODUS, THE
MENTORS, PILEDRIVER, and yes, even HELLWITCH from their demo days, maybe due to some of the heavy yet silly lyrics.
Good headbanging metal aplenty here on This End Up, if you don't buy Cummin Atcha LIVE, you have to get this (I seriously
recommend both). Not one bad song, Lord Vic's vocals are usually deathy, but on track 7 "The Spectre" he reminds me old tough guy
vocals by Paul Baloff (Exodus). Well, if I had to pick a "bad" track here...the Elvis cover while funny the first time, is something that
should have been put on at the end, so I could turn off the CD, and not have to get up and skip to the cool rendition of one of the best
Nasty Savage demo tracks "Witches Sabbath". I totally forgot about this gem, and Rampage do it faithfully to my recollection, wish I
still had that tape! Fave tracks are: Bloody Leg, Satanic Death, Rampage, The Gates of the Abyss, and Witches Sabbath.
The tracks are:
Secret Bonus tracks:
PS. I learned that in the future the secret tracks on Rampage releases will change.
This 1998 CD is 56 minutes long, you get your money's worth.
taken from LARM,
written by Mlotek
RAMPAGE is back with its new and this time incredibly blasting old-school Thrash/Death/Black Metal stuff. The band's line-up has remained intact, and
combines by the evil forces of Lord Vic (lead guitar and vocals), Paul Bearer (drums), Earwhig Ringworm (rhythm guitar) and Tom Coffinsmasher (bass). This
13-track album makes me drown into the unforgettable feeling of 80's bands such as VENOM, POSSESSED, DESTRUCTION, MAYHEM and the list goes on.
Their songs are really well-crafted, though those has less of originality due to the similarities with the bands above, but for me was important that their music
came from their veins and it means a straight release which should be checked by all the true fans of old-school Metal. Songs like "Satanic Symphony" and
"Born In Hell" are rather interesting complex Thrash tunes with killer riff-passages and flawless drum-work. Moreover, the bass parts were quite well-structured
and add lots of variety to their powerful music, while the raw vocals gives more brutality and aggression. And if all this isn't enough for you, they added two
bonus tracks for the end, from which one is the cover version of the famous MERCYFUL FATE's "Black Masses". Be sure to order this brutal old-school stuff
right now from: Unsung Heroes Records, 109 Misty Ridge Trail, Stockbridge, GA 30281, USA. And look for their next release, "Bellum Infinitum", which will be
out somewhere in 1999.
taken from Encomium #2,
written by Kornelius Kontros
3.5 out of 5 stars
taken from Metal Nightmare #2,
written by Tom "Deadmetal" Wren
The fucking best thing released in a given year! This band shits all over everyone else. Were I less of a rationalist, I would suggest that someone "up there"
doesn't want this album reviewed. Twice my reviews have fallen victim to CPU failures and HD reformattings. The tape always seems to disappear when I most
want to listen to it. It probably has more to do with me being a stoner and a schizophrenic, though.
How do I explain this band to the uninitiated? There is a definite nod to the 80s beginnings of death metal (POSSESSED! in particular), but not a heavy-handed
retro trip as some have complained about when associated with bands such as EXECUTIONER. There is also an underlying element of humor evident, much in
the same way that EXODUS lyrics were both violent and somewhat silly at the same time. Don't let that (or frontman Lord Vic's portrayal of Rampage as
something less than serious) fool you. This is a landmark album for the underground. I just don't know of another band that does anything like this. Being from
the OLD school (I remember getting the VENOM "Die Hard" single back when IRON MAIDEN was de rigeur), I really appreciate "catchy" thrash and death
metal, with hooks and choruses, and this album is chock full of it. You'll find yourself shouting out "SATANIC DEATH!" and "THE GATES OF THE ABYSS!" at
the most inopportune moments. And don't let all of my misty-eyed talk of the "goode olde days" scare you off. This work stands up on its own as an example
of the newest wave of metal, it just never forgets where it came from. Too many bands seem to think life began with CARCASS, and they lack the background
that would enable them to write ORIGINAL music. Luckily, this trend seems to be on the decline. I won't detail this album song by song, because you're going
to order a copy, right? Besides, this is the third time I've written this review. Another item of interest is the fact that Rampage has resurrected a song from a
defunct Georgia band. Both this song, "Black Mass at the Witches Sabbath", and the rest of the album would have rivaled anything put out in 1985, and they
put most things released in 1999 to shame. Enough. Rampage rules. Always have, always will. HAIL S8N!!1111!!!
taken from LARM/Heidenlarm,
written by Jason Gortician
Still plying his homebrewed lo-fi wares, Lord Vic took Rampage into a slightly
more sinister area with This End Up and yes, you might recognize some
similarities in the cover art with some 80s thrash band named Possessed. This
End Up is most definitely homage to that certain horned fallen angel as well
as a bevy of anti-Christian anthems that probably should be taken with the
grain of salt that was required when dining upon thrash music of the late 80s.
Unfortunately, the majority of This End Up lies untouched like the overly dry
complimentary bread that some restaurants might serve before the meal. It's
definitely something you don't want to fill yourself up with when there are
tastier meals to be found out there. This End Up of course has the lo-fi,
home recording production issues. While by no means the level of early Sodom
recordings, the fuzziness of the guitars is omnipresent and everything seems a
bit too condensed and hey, who truly likes condensed milk? The songs
generally fall into the slow paced, neo-death/thrash and tend to lope along
without a ton of flair or excitement. It is very easy for a listener to become
distracted while listening to Lord Vic rant about the number "666" or bemoan
his "Bloody Leg". While there still may be appeal to fans of the dirtier
segments of old school thrash, This End Up is going to be buried far far under
the rest of the CDs in my collection.
written by John Chedsey for
Satan Stole My Teddybear.
Who says metal can't be humorous and well played at the same time? RAMPAGE are a black/death metal band who play total old school sounding music,
but who also don't take anything too seriously. Somehow, they just seem to be completely tongue-in-cheek. Armed with some stolen riffs and two unlisted
cover songs, This End Up will point you directly into hell.
