The 1990’s saw a lot of good bands come and go, often with some great material seemingly lost. No Life Til Metal has digitally remastered Image of Deception from the thrash band Consecrator and on it is not only the Image of Deception release from 1992 but also some earlier demo tracks and a previously unreleased track from 2005.
Hailing from Texas, Consecrator formed in 1989 and by 1990 had recorded their first, self-titled demo, which incidentally took one day. The demo was well received but the band underwent some lineup changes and took until 1991 to record “Free from Death” and send it to REX Records who ultimately released it on the Demolition compilation cd. While the band continued to play live, they never could secure a record deal and after recording Image of Deception and enduring more lineup changes, the band went their separate ways in 1993. Fast forward to 2004 and Bombworks Records remastered and released Consecrator’s old demos and Image of Deception in one limited run of 300 copies on cd. Now 13 years later, No Life Til Metal and Roxx Records are releasing a digitally remastered version of this classic and as a bonus have included a previously unreleased track from 2005.
For those unfortunate enough to have missed a lot of the good thrash bands of the early 90’s, this album is worth picking up, pure and simple as it can bring you up to speed. It’s a rather simplistic and possibly unfair comparison, but Image of Deception has a lot of the same style and structure as Slayer’s Season in the Abyss, which leads to believe there were a lot of good bands I missed in that timeframe when I was more focused musically on hardcore bands. Given that this was originally an unreleased demo, sure it does have that rough edge to it even in this remastered form, but there is some decent low end to the sound a and the guitars and drums come through nicely. To my ears the vocals are a bit distant, possibly by design and the guitar solos do seem a bit detached from the songs but those are some seriously nit-picky issues that I only mention to acknowledge they are there as they don’t alter the listening experience for me.
What I love about thrash are the great, fast riffs and driving drums and this album delivers on both counts. In a lot of ways, thrash is like the tougher, older brother of punk and hardcore, and that sound is in abundance on this release. I miss bands like this and for what it’s worth FreaKings from Switzerland may be one of the closest current bands out there. That being said, there is a bit of a nastier tone to Consecrator that I love. Maybe it’s just the rough mix of the recording or maybe it’s built into their sound, I’m not sure which, but it is there in the older recordings. The previously unreleased track “Meaningless” was recorded roughly 13 years or more later than the other tracks on the album and it does have a more modern sound to it, but honestly, the guitars sound too smooth and have lost the rough edge of the older recordings. It’s a subtle change but it is there. Then again, I like raw punk rock, so maybe it’s just my ears.
The older demo tracks present another step back in overall sound and tone due to the original recordings, but the great riffs are still there in abundance. In the older recordings the drums are the element of the sound that suffer the most, but the overall sound is still excellent. I do love the relatively unfinished sound that comes through in well-produced demos and that is present here.
For those who may have heard of Consecrator and/or love early 90’s thrash, you will want to pick this collection up and for those who may have missed out on that era and sound, but love fast, tough riffs, blazing solos, and maddeningly fast pounding drums, this will give you an idea of how awesome thrash can be.
Rating: 8.5/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
1. Submission
2. Image of Deception
3. Mindlessly Betrayed
4. Vision Ignored
5. Sayings of the Wise
6. Free From Death
7. Meaningless (2005 Recording)
8. Make me Laugh (demo)
9. Satan Lies (demo)
10. Saving Song (demo)
11. Messiah Calls (demo)
12. Troubled Years (demo)
13. Cast Out (demo)
Band Members
James Chavez-Guitar
Ash Lawhon-Drums
Rob Ojeda-Bass
Glenn Johnson-Vocals
Past Members: James McWilliams-Guitar, Steve Tidwell-Guitar, Ben Crockett-Guitar, Ray Hillner-Guitar, John Hall-Vocals
Record Label: Roxx Records/No Life Til Metal, 2017
Consecrator on Facebook
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
Lyric video for ‘Meaningless’