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Nightmare Theatre (1986)
Released in 1986, Nightmare Theatre is the sole L.P. from Exorcist. This was a side project, originally done to settle a label debt, but it ended up being better than a lot of real bands who were actually trying. It may not have been planned out as anything serious, but the result is one of the more solid blackened speed metal albums from the '80s.
The riffs are sharp, fast, and evil, drawing from early Slayer and Bathory while still grounded in a heavy/speed metal framework. The vocals sound like a more hellish version of Cronos from Venom. They're layered with reverb and often multitracked, which adds a demonic feeling without turning into complete mess. The music is rough, aggressive, and full of energy. There are a lot of memorable bits, clearly the songwriter couldn't dull his sense of catchiness even when working on a more raw and intense project. The production is far from clean, but it suits the atmosphere and gives the whole thing a murky, cursed sound.
Even if the band wasn’t fully committed to the concept, the lyrics and imagery stay focused on horror, evil, and occult themes. It ends up sounding more convincing than some bands who claimed to mean it. Nightmare Theatre is well worth a listen. Highlights include "Black Mass" and "Death by Bewitchment".
The riffs are sharp, fast, and evil, drawing from early Slayer and Bathory while still grounded in a heavy/speed metal framework. The vocals sound like a more hellish version of Cronos from Venom. They're layered with reverb and often multitracked, which adds a demonic feeling without turning into complete mess. The music is rough, aggressive, and full of energy. There are a lot of memorable bits, clearly the songwriter couldn't dull his sense of catchiness even when working on a more raw and intense project. The production is far from clean, but it suits the atmosphere and gives the whole thing a murky, cursed sound.
Even if the band wasn’t fully committed to the concept, the lyrics and imagery stay focused on horror, evil, and occult themes. It ends up sounding more convincing than some bands who claimed to mean it. Nightmare Theatre is well worth a listen. Highlights include "Black Mass" and "Death by Bewitchment".
(24 May 2025)
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