| Musical Style: Heavy Metal | Produced By: Terry Taylor |
| Record Label: Intense | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 1992 | Artist Website: Deliverance |
| Tracks: 10 | Rating: 85% |
| Running Time: 45:25 |
After releasing its groundbreaking sophomore effort Weapons Of Our Warfare in 1990, the Los Angeles based speed metal act Deliverance hit the road and performed as many dates as possible in support of the album. What got lost in the shuffle of so much touring, however, was the needed time for songwriting; as a result, when the band was getting ready to record its 1991 follow up effort, the ill fated What A Joke, it did not have any material. Hence, founding member and vocalist/guitarist Jimmy P. Brown II threw together a bunch of riffs in a matter of weeks in addition to rehashing several old songs (such as “J.I.G.” from the old Greetings Of Death demo and “Attack” off the California Metal compilation). The outcome was an uneven effort in What A Joke, an album that, in the words of Brown, “Inevitably it was.”
Actually, a case can be made that a great deal of the bands problems at the time stem from a conflict over musical direction. Brown had been playing speed metal in Deliverance since 1985 and was becoming more and more burn out on the genre. Guitarist George Ochoa (Recon), on the other hand, was just getting into speed metal at the time he joined Deliverance and, of course, wanted to continue that trend. In the end, the inability of Brown and Ochoa to meet eye to eye musically ended up detracting from What A Joke. Brown’s dissatisfaction with Deliverance, for example, discouraged him from writing for the album and at one point was on the verge of leaving the group. Eventually the two met with a group of pastors who agreed it would be best if they went their separate ways musically and, as a result, Brown was free to move in the heading he had desired for years on Deliverance’s fourth full length outing Stay Of Execution.
While Stay Of Execution proves a departure from the classic Deliverance speed metal and thrash sounds of its self-titled debut and Weapons…, it is still HEAVY and retains the bands trademark energy and crunch. The best way to describe the music here might be straightforward heavy metal with an occasional leaning towards speed metal and thrash. The album, for example, finds Brown coming into his own as a songwriter, penning several standout compositions in “Windows Of The Soul”, “Words To The…” and the breathtaking “Ramming Speed” that almost come across with a bit of a progressive edge. Deliverance brings back some of the more overriding thrash elements to its sound on “Lord Of Dreams” and even returns to its speed metal ways on “Entombed”. A cover of the old Daniel Amos song “Horrendous Disc” comes close to reflecting a progressive rock influence- if you can image that! In the end, Deliverance has created a sound that is original, and – no matter how highly you might think of them – you cannot always say that about the bands first two efforts.
At the time Deliverance hit the road in support of Weapons Of Our Warfare it included three of the five members of Recon in Ochoa, bassist Mike Grato and drummer John Gonzalez- which often led, jokingly, to the band being referred to as Delivercon. Eventually, Gonzalez was replaced by Kevin Lee, while the bands original bassist Brian Khairullah returned to supplant Grato. Grato, however, does perform on 8 of the 10 tracks on Stay Of Execution. Mike Phillips took Ochoa’s place and proves perhaps the most talented lead guitarist to grace Deliverance’s line up, his shredding work on “Stay Of Execution”, “From Once Was” and “Lord Of Dreams” nothing less than jaw dropping. Brown, of course, remains a tight as a nail presence in rhythm guitar, and as a vocalist, he really stretches and showcases a haunting and lower-ranged delivery that might best be described as Geoff Tate (Queensryche) meets David Bowie. Ultimately, Stay Of Execution does a laudable job reflecting the greater emphasis Deliverance placed on lead vocal performance.
It is worth pointing out that Terry Taylor of Daniel Amos fame produced the album and created an effort that comes across with just the right amount of polish to bring out the best in the bands sound.
While Stay Of Execution is not a concept album, it does have an overriding theme. Jimmy Brown goes into more detail in regards to the matter:
The theme of the record is basically death to the flesh. It’s all about humanness. For all these years we’ve been
putting people on pedestals and we forget to realize that they’re human beings. They’re prone to fall. They’re prone to
be sinful, because our nature is sinful.1
The albums title track kicks in at a rollicking upbeat tempo before tapering off upon reaching its first verse. Driven forward by a crunchy rhythm guitar, “Stay Of Execution” picks up in pace as it attains a quickly moving chorus shouldered by Brown’s melancholy vocal delivery. A ringing telephone gives way to a terrific distorted guitar solo from shredder Mike Phillips. The focus of “Stay Of Execution” is overcoming the flesh:
Strong is your holds, oh mortal flesh
And now I’ve fallen to you again
Mighty’s the faith that overcomes
But somehow you always seem to win
And so the struggle still goes on
Between the spirit and the flesh
Knowing His Word will make me strong
For the tormenting of my flesh
“Windows Of The Soul” begins to a quietly played guitar line that segues to a crescendo of energetic riffs and a high pitched scream from Brown. Abruptly making a time change to a slower, more mid-tempo pace upon reaching its first verse, “Windows Of The Soul” gives rise to a flood of guitar driven energy before moving on to a disconsolate chorus that comes across near mesmerizing in capacity. Philips again puts his talent on display, cutting loose with a nice stretch of metallic flavored lead guitar work. “Windows Of The Soul” talks about exactly that:
I’m tempted to judge every book by its cover
Fail to consider the spirit within
Give me the heart of the nail torn lover
The bloodied and battered forgiver of sin
Reach deep in my soul
Through the windows of my eyes…
The bands trademark mega-tight rhythm guitar harmony holds sway over the instrumental section introducing “Words To The…”. The song proceeds to forge through its first verse with a profusion of determined impetus, only picking up in pace as it culminates for a hook-driven chorus giving rise to just the right amount of smooth sounding appeal. “Words To The…” reflects the heart of the Psalmist:
Words to the wise and the poor of spirit
Words to those whose thoughts are clear
Words to those who have the ears to hear it
Words to the ones drawing near.
After “From Once Was” slowly fades in to a pronounced bass line blended with cascading drums, a haunting but quietly played guitar line stands in support of Brown’s spoken word delivery. The portent atmosphere is maintained as a swell of rhythm guitar steps forward, urging the song ahead in ardent fashion until it gains a hold of a resolute chorus with a message about the importance of leaving the past behind:
Faith gathered from “once was”
Hope gathered from “once was”
Peace gathered from “once was”
Love gathered from “once was”
I dream the past, the burning bridges
Old photographs, discarded pages
Unanswered prayers, the childhood endings
The bitter tears, the new beginnings
Phillips delivers another over the top, distorted guitar solo as Kevin Lee pounds away on drums in the background. A very creative composition that reflects some technical and progressive tendencies as well.
The energetic “Self-Monger” jumps out of the gate fast and heavy, sustaining the guitar driven energy as it forges ahead to a fleeting chorus asking a very relevant question:
But what do you win if you gain the world
And lose your own soul?
Phillips’ fluid lead guitar work almost comes across with a bluesy feel this time around, standing in perfect contrast to the songs ardent ambience.
“Horrendous Disc”, of course, is a Daniel Amos cover that was penned back in 1977 and appeared on the DA album of the same name. An atmospheric, piano based introduction with a classical feel gets the song underway. Picking up in pace as the rhythm guitar steps forward at the start of its first verse, “Horrendous Disc” gains further impetus as it attains a chorus backed in an operatic manner by vocal harmonies. In the end, this proves to be a haunting track with an almost progressive edge to it that sounds like nothing in Deliverance’s past repertoire. And while that is not a bad thing, I wish the band had produced the song so that it reflected more of the trademark Deliverance crunch with an upfront rhythm guitar sound. Still, not a bad effort.
Deliverance returns to its hard rocking ways on “Lord Of Dreams”, a hard hitting number that gives rise to a slight thrash feel. The song actually moves through its first verse in near laid back fashion only to abruptly pick up in pace as an avalanche of angst laden momentum takes over, the forceful setting kept alive during an aggressively delivered chorus fortified by pummeling double bass. Deliverance showcases the abundant strength of its instrumental sound during the songs two different sweeping instrumental sections. This one would sound right at home on the self-title debut.
“Ramming Speed” is without a doubt the albums strongest track. A near doom-like amalgamation of acoustic guitar and ethereal guitar feedback helps carry the minute and a half long instrumental section opening the song. Once a bristling wall of rhythm guitar takes over, however, “Ramming Speed” moves ahead at an anthem-like mid-tempo pace until it breaks out in an authoritative manner for a dramatic chorus that will pull you in as a result of its emotional allure. Brown adds a brief but ardent guitar solo to a song touching upon the issue of spiritual warfare:
Slaves to the King of King’s
And slaves of love
Steer the ship by the sweat
Or our brow and beat of the drum
War against sin with the weapons of our unity
Right on the mark with a love for humanity
Building up to ramming speed…
The power of God is ramming speed…
“Entombed”, the bands lone attempt at speed metal, opens to a drum solo before taking off to a cacophonous double bass driven riff. Advancing through its first verse at breakneck speed, the song does not miss a beat as it moves on to a chorus carried at a raucous, upbeat tempo. This one is a four minute burst of non-stop energy that harkens back to the bands days of old.
Following the release of Weapons Of Our Warfare Deliverance recorded a well produced video of the albums title track that went on to be played on MTV’s Headbangers Ball. Deliverance, as a result, decided to include a remixed version of “Weapons…” in order to help extend the life of the video.
When compared to the original, the Stay Of Execution version features the cleaner mix of drums but still falls a bit short due to a more restrained rhythm guitar sound. At the same time, nearly an entire minute has been cut from the song. I can understand why the band chose to include this here – again, they wanted to extend the life of the video (and I can commend them for that) – but I would much rather have heard an entirely new composition instead.
Stay Of Execution represented the first steps Deliverance would take away from the speed metal and thrash sounds of its self-titled debut and Weapons Of Our Warfare. And while many of the bands hardcore fans were disappointed with this move, I find it a refreshing and creative change of pace in that it allowed Jimmy Brown to stretch and expand upon his already well rounded songwriting abilities. Tracks like “Windows Of The Soul”, “Words To The…”, “From Once Was” and “Ramming Speed”, for example, all hold up under an uncanny amount of infectious energy that almost comes across progressive in its capacity. That being said, the only constructive comment I have to offer is that the album could have used an extra song or two in that out if its ten tracks one is a cover (“Horrendous Disc”) and the second a remixed version of one of the bands older compositions (“Weapons…”).
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Stay Of Execution” (4:34), “Windows Of The Soul” (4:58), “Words To The…” (4:23), “From Once Was” (3:58), “Self-Monger” (3:29), “Horrendous Disc” (5:27), “Lord Of Dreams” (5:04), “Ramming Speed” (5:48), “Entombed” (3:46), “Weapons Of Our Warfare” (3:39)
Musicians
Jimmy P. Brown II – Lead Vocals, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars
Mike Phillips – Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars
Brian – Khairullah – Bass
Kevin P. Lee – Drums & Percussion
Additional Musicians
Rob Watson – Keyboards
Gene Eugene – Rhodes
Mike Grato – Bass
Also Reviewed: Deliverance – Deliverance, Deliverance - Weapons Of Our Warfare, Deliverance - River Disturbance, Deliverance - Assimilation, Deliverance - As Above - So Below, Deliverance - The First Four Years, Deliverance - Greetings Of Death, Fearful Symmetry – This Sad Veil OfTears, Jupiter VI - Back From Mars, Various Artists - California Metal
