Blasphemy - Fallen Angel of Doom (1990)
Blasphemy is a Canadian black/death metal (or "war metal") band that has influenced countless bands in their aesthetic and sound. In case you are unaware of the genre, black/death metal or war metal is a hybrid subgenre of black metal that incorporates elements of death metal, mostly surfacing in the subgenre's technical veracity and vocal style (see Revenge and Pissgrave ). It sounds like I am splitting hairs here, but blackened death metal is an entirely different subgenre, that incorporates the vocals and melody of black metal into an otherwise death metal band (see Behemoth and Angelcorpse ). Anyway, the subgenre distinction is not what is important. What is important is the new precedent for aggression that Blasphemy set in pioneering this subgenre. Fallen Angel of Doom is the band's first album, and the fact that it came so early in the history of black metal's formation is astonishing to me. One of the most special things about this ...