Aqua Net prettyboy metal would yet rule Sunset Strip for a while. But Vengeance Rising’s Human Sacrifice drove a nail in its mascara’ed coffin with as much force as the spike through Christ’s palm pictured on this album’s still-bracing cover. Stryper may have been wanting to send the devil to hell, but Roger Martinez sung to Satan in guttural intelligibility that he’s going to “Burn” down there, too. You, bucko, were in line for the same infernal fate, were you not on the right side of the “White Throne” judgement. Martinez and his bandmates summoned the same scary muse as Slayer’s, down to a similar proto-death thrashing musicality, only using that super powerful assault for good. In retrospect, it’s a hoot to think that there were naysayers who thought Martinez to be mimicking demons with his throatscraping vocals. Didn’t the Lord say something about Beelzebub not being able to cast himself out of anybody?
Sadly, Martinez’s faith was lost amidst a label deal that left him disillusioned with both ministry and industry sides of professional music in a double minority niche (Christian and extreme metal). He has threatened to release another solo Vengeance Rising album in his current atheist mindset as his old bandmates have regrouped as Once Dead. Regardless of the controversies past and present, Human Sacrifice remains a bold introduction to godly metallurgy more interested in shredding than preening.
Other coverage for this album
Heaven's Metal #18Reviewed by Doug Van PeltThis album is utterly awesome! I used to not appreciate thrash. It used to not impress me. A friend once gave me tickets to see Metallica two years ago and I came away wondering what all the fuss over thrash was about. All these attitudes, of course, were demolished when I first heard the Vengeance demo. I love it! Vengeance is extremely tight. The vocal sound is very, very intense. When the band…Similar sounding releases
1993BetrayalThe Passing
1990SacramentTestimony of Apocalypse
1990TourniquetStop the Bleeding
1994ForbiddenDistortion
1995DeathSymbolic
1991MortificationMortificationMore from Vengeance Rising
1990Once Dead
1991Destruction Comes
1993Anthology[title unknown]
1992Released Upon the Earth
