Description
Vigilant was a technical thrash metal act from Holland. Formed in 1987 by ex Thanatos bass player Andre Scherpenberg. This compltion contains their debut demo, Dramatic Surge 1988, Demo 2: Opppression 1989 and 2 rare tracks from the Metal In Rocks 1989 compilation album and some rehearsal and live tracks. Vigilant deserve a special mention for the fact that they were the first batch to play more technical music on Dutch ground. Those who started before them, and they were not that many, mind you, were busy establishing their careers on the official stage, and were not that interested in elaborating their basic style, something that did eventually happen at a later time with some of them (Pestilence, Usurper, Vulture and Mandator to an extent). These Vigilantes began their adventure into the fields of metal at around the same time as another notable Dutch progressive/technical thrash metal formation, Donor; but while that act were fascinated with the blistering speedy delivery of Agent Steel and Helstar at the beginning, Vigilant already had their minds and souls put firmly on more complex, less conventional soil. Their Dramatic Surge demo (1988) contained three tracks where the staple for the time fast-paced approach was mixed with quirky technical rhythms siding it with the early efforts of Target and Mekong Delta thus making Vigilant one of the pioneers of the technical metal scene in Europe.
Track list:
1. Dramatic Surge-Dramatic Surge demo 1988
2. Dehumanized Authority-Dramatic Surge demo 1988
3. The Sacrament-Dramatic Surge demo 1988
4. Intro-Oppression demo 1989
5. Oppression-Oppression demo 1989
6. Visions Of A Dying Brain-Oppression demo 1989
7. Biomorph-Oppression demo 1989
8. Beyond God’s Creations-Oppression demo 1989
9. Visions Of A Dying Brain-Metal In Rocks 1989
10. Your Cold Embrace-Metal In Rocks 1989
11. Biomorph-rehearsals 1988
12. Dramatic Surge-live 6th of August 1988
13. Biomorph-live 6th of August 1988
14. Dehumanized Authority-live 6th of August 1988
15. Subculture Of Violence-live 6th of August 1988
16. The Sacrament-live 6th of August 1988