Nightmare Theatre by Exorcist - RYM/Sonemic (2024)

thediscovertab Apr 15 2024

This is another one of those fake bands that released albums in the exploitation filmmaking style of attracting potential buyers using names and art that would pull them in.

Like a few of these kind of records - the second PileDriver LP, or Original Sin - David DeFeis of Virgin Steele was heavily involved here. It's mostly thrashy speed/power metal draped in spooky cheesy atmosphere about burning witches or exorcisms or whatever. They interestingly dip into blackened metal territory and vague death metal textures, but not so much that you could really label this as legitimately black or death metal. "Riding to Hell" also has a big of a Motörhead thing going on. Some real gnarly (I have to assume) digital tom sounds on here though, haha.

But in that way it's a nice diversion and I really find that when bands lean into their silliness with the over-the-top "WE'RE SCARY, BE SCARED OK" theatrics it often works well or at least can help with songs that are a bit more bog standard. I dunno, in the same way I like cheap exploitation movies, I find this sub-section of fake metal bands conjured up to make a quick buck really fascinating. This is a solid example of that.

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UMUR Dec 20 2023

"Nightmare Theatre" is the debut full-length studio album by US speed metal act Exorcist. The album was released through Cobra Records in 1986. It was recorded over a few days in January 1986 and it´s the sole album release from Exorcist, who was a studio project written and recorded by several members of Virgin Steele and drummer Mark Edwards. All musicians worked under pseudonyms. All of them were also involved in the making of Original Sin´s 1986 album "Sin Will Find You Out" (Cobra Records), and some of them in former Virgin Steele guitarist Jack Starr´s Burning Starr 1986 album "No Turning Back! (Napalm Records).

It´s interesting to hear David DeFeis (here working under the Damien Rath pseudonym) singing in a gruff and raw vocal style and only occasionally pulling out a high pitched scream. It´s just another testament to the man´s incredible vocal abilities. The music is sharp, raw, and relatively savage speed metal. It´s pretty straight forward with hard rocking heavy metal riffs, pounding drums, a thumping bass, and DeFeis snarling on top. There´s a dark and demonic atmosphere to the album, which is only further enhanced by a couple of shorter eerie sounding interlude tracks and the fact that DeFeis vocals are often doubled with a demonic voice (I´m actually thinking that Glen Benton from Deicide may have listened to this album).

Songwriting wise you won´t find anything here, which you haven´t heard before, but it´s all really well done, and "Nightmare Theatre" also features a well sounding organic production job, which is pretty perfect for this type of music. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

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kajuku Aug 07 2023

Although I find it difficult to listen to the record in one go because I find it too childish, I would currently wish David DeFeis had retained a bit of the looseness from that time. Without knowing the exact background to the creation of the record; I really have to convince myself that a death/black/thrash metal album should never seriously be recorded here, otherwise it's hard for me to enjoy listening to Nightmare Theatre...

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n/a CD

RioT_ Mar 18 2023

Satanic Speed Metal!

By now most know the story behind Exorcist and the other bands, Piledriver and Original Sin! Nightmare Theatre is an overall fun listen for those barely getting into the underground and for some Metal enthusiasts. From funny interludes, shredding solos, dare I say, I even hear death growls in this album. Satanic Speed metal at its finest. To some it’s a joke album but I think this album actually has a cult following and stands the test of time, rumor has it this album played part in the supposed first wave of black metal.
Favorite track: Deathbybewitchment.

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suburbanschizo Jun 16 2019

I like to pretend I'm a teen in 1985 perusing the record store racks and come across this album (assuming I'm in a store cool enough to stock this in the first place.) One look at the cover and I'd a been all over this. You know, it's a double-edged sword in a sense, living in the internet-era, with an infinite stream of information at our fingertips... pre-internet, you just had to take things at face value. The allure, the mystique of an album like this is something I would have appreciated the f*ck out of. We know now that this is a mock "extreme" metal album done by Virgin Steele, but back then, this was just the latest of a long line of new bands in the metal underground ratcheting up the dark influence of Satan himself, possessing young impressionable pimple-faced headbangers and giving many a parent things to lose sleep over. I could imagine pouring over the album jacket and tirelessly wondering to myself, "just who are these guys?!"

Of course, none of that f*cking matters if the music doesn't hold up. It's that brand of wild, unpredictable speed / thrash metal that didn't play by the rules, before the genre was scrubbed of its identity, looseness, and most importantly... its bizarre nature. I love it. The songs are catchier than the common cold, the vocals over-the-top, all rounded out by an evil, kind of proto-black metal aesthetic. Sure, the little interludes between the actual songs are pretty unnecessary, but make your own version of the album and chuck those in the trash if ya want. We do live in the internet-era, after all.

Verdict: it rules.

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ExtremeBogom Oct 19 2014

A real guilty pleasure.

It may be the most bizarre Thrash record I have ever heard, but there is something strangely alluring about it.
Dark, sinister, and atmospheric, yet; fun, addictive, and with unashamedly catchy riffs.

My favourite tracks are probably:
Black Mass, Execution of the Witches, Queen of the Dead.
But they're all fun really, especially with the recurring horror-themed humour between tracks.

It must be heard at least once.

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SnailBob2 Dec 04 2011

Good '80s black/speed metal album that gets an unnecessary amount of flack for being created by the guys from Virgin Steele.

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SCULLCD-1 CD (1999)

theshorteststraw Jul 06 2011

It's kind of amusing.... for about 6-8 minutes... the band didn't really need the interludes, it's cheesy even without it. I remember this one time I asked my friend's grandpa to jam with my band, and his vocals are exactly the same as here. The vocals are not acceptable, I don't care if it was intentional.

"Black Mass" and "Burnt Offerings" are good songs, the leads are cool, the riffing is surprisingly developed for being a 1985 comedy metal album. By the track "Death by Bewitchment", you realize really how thin the songwriting ideas are.

"Lucifer's Lament" is another decent song, it is longer, and slower, and is two-paced, unlike most of the songs. it's track 14 already, and too little to save the album.

The guitar solos are pretty fun, long, wild and chaotic, I guess they could've made their way to a better album. The vocals just plain suck, it's like some college graduate's first attempt at extreme metal gargoyle vocals.

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