Description

Rare original Tales Of Thrash 1988 pressing

Germany in the 80s – sounds like thrash metal, doesn’t it? And for the dedicated metalhead, the name Necronomicon could also ring a bell. Formed in 1984, the band from Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg, could have made it big, if only they hadn’t fallen prey to the wrong record label back in the days… be that as it may, Necronomicon never gave in, and they are still here today. “Escalation” from 1988 was Necronomicon’s third full-length album, after the self-titled debut from 1986 and “Apocalyptic Nightmare” from 1987. Vocalist and guitarist Freddy says “The album was recorded and mixed during the year 1987, at the Zuckerfabrik-studio in Stuttgart: When Jogi (git.) and I wrote the songs, we wanted to leave the dark path of the two previous productions. Musically, we wanted to sound broader and more diverse… somehow more mature. And we were very proud of the result! According to the reactions by fans and press, all these goals were met: The band had developed a much more focused approach to the songwriting, delivered a tighter and faster performance, and also Freddy’s vocals had changed; compared to the former albums, they had become a lot harsher, and a lot more unique. Did he work on that intentionally? “I think that comes automatically when the songwriting changes. The new songs simply gave me more space and opportunities for development”. In general, this album is said to be the most convincing of Necronomicon’s first three outputs. Freddy remembers it just like that: “The response was incredible, we gained worldwide attention and got a lot of great reviews. For the first time, we earned a little money with one of our releases, because Gama Records held the exclusive rights only up to a certain sales volume… they simply had not reckoned with the success. “Escalation” comes with a bunch of great thrash tunes, some of which are even regarded as small classics, like the opener “Death Toll” and Freddy’s own favourite, “Cold Ages (Dark Land 3)”. Only “Dirty Minds” is a bit unusual, being more classic hard rock than thrash metal – is there a special story behind it? “Actually, this was a song written by Jogi. Gama Records had mislabelled everything, even our names were reversed. The songs I wrote for this production are ‘Death Toll’, ‘Murder of Profit’, ‘…and the Night Will be Silent’, and ‘Cold Ages’. But now to your question: Jogi probably had a little heartache at that time… He gave me the lyrics, together with the task of sounding like a ‘Hard Rock’ singer…ok, nice try…!” Looks like signing with Gama could actually have nipped the young band’s existence in the bud: “Well, Gama Records’ lack of support and their inconsistency caused many problems, and the band was forced to go through a long and expensive court case in order to regain ownership of its own name. Just enjoy this wonderful album from the good old 80’s . With thrashy greetz…Freddy”

Track list:
1. Death Toll
2. Black Frost
3. Dirty Minds
4. Skeletal Remains
5. Murder Of Profit
6. And The Night Will Be Silent
7. Mosh The ABC
8. Cold Ages (Darkland III)