Pale Creation "Before Twilight and After" CD
Posted on Sunday, October 5th, 2008 @ 9:14pm » permalink
The first release from the newly resurrected Holy Terror Records is "Before Twilight and After", a 24-track, 78-minute (almost) discography collection from Cleveland's always underrated Pale Creation. Opening with one "new" track, "Kaliira", which I believe was recorded about three years ago around the time that the band regrouped for a reunion show in Cleveland, the disc then contains their sole full-length, 1999's "Twilight Haunt" (originally on East Coast Empire Records), as well as the four tracks from their extremely rare split CD with Repugnant (originally on Repentance Verified Records, released in either 2000 or 2001, I can't recall), with the eight tracks from their absolutely excellent 1992 demo tacked onto the end of the CD. This is pretty much everything the band ever recorded, sans the instrumental outro from "Twilight Haunt" ("Procession", likely omitted due to time constraints for its less-than-mandatory status) and the six tracks from their 1994 demo sessions.
The inclusion of the 1992 demo and "Twilight Haunt" alone really gives you a feel for the massive evolution Pale Creation endured throughout their near-decade of existence, sprouting up from a crossover-tinged thrash metal act with almost Dave Mustaine-like vocals to a much darker and more diverse take on the metal-based hardcore for which Cleveland is so revered. The light vocal effects and droning guitar work present throughout "Twilight Haunt" really lend a different sort of feel to classic tracks like "Trade a Soul", among others. In fact, the closest Pale Creation ever came to sounding more like their Clevo hardcore forefathers was on their final release, the split CD with Repugnant, where they stripped down to a rawer, more in your face attack, with shorter songs and harsher, more direct vocals – which, when devoid of effects, actually had much more in common with Dwid's inimitable screams. But even the centerpiece of that release, the absolutely awesome "The Rest of Forever", revisits some of the more twisted riffing and droning leads of "Twilight Haunt", so… Pale Creation was always operating just outside the bounds of what was considered "normal" for whatever scenes they were tending to fall within. And that's certainly not a bad thing, granted it may provide some additional insight as to why the band never received their due.
The disc is packaged in a standard jewel case with more superb artwork from the one and only Stephen Kasner, as well as a five-and-a-half-page complete history of Pale Creation, which goes into plenty of detail – right down to the fact that my old blog posts about the band's two demos back in the summer of 2005 may have provided the first spark that eventually led to this CD. If that's the case, I have to say that I'm honored to have played even a small role in leading to the proper release of such a collection, and I certainly hope the renewed interest in the whole "holy terror" thing that's going on right now will finally bring some more appreciative listeners to this sorely overlooked material. It's about time…
Pale Creation "Trade a Soul"
Pale Creation "Terror Binds the Soul"
Pale Creation "Natural Assassin"
This one's only available from the label at the moment, and I'm extremely curious to see what the future will hold for Holy Terror Records. In a day and age where "holy terror" is being claimed by a number of bands whose material has little in common with what the "holy terror hardcore" sound represented a decade (or more) ago, I'm guessing it's safe to assume (especially based on this collection) that the record label itself will uphold a higher standard of quality…
Purchase:
October 5th, 2008 @ 9:47 pm
Awesome! Can't wait to get my hand on this release. Funny you mentioned the Split with Repugnant and put a song from the CD on the site. I have to say, that I'm honored that you remembered it.
Ingo (Repugnant)
October 5th, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
Come on – name names! Which crap bands are claiming to be Holy Terror?
October 6th, 2008 @ 3:48 am
awesome shit, they should have continued.
andrew, the split was released in 2000 on our own improvised label REPENTANCE VERIFIED RECORDS, which we kept more than underground. so in a way we contributed to PALE CREATION never morphing into a major act, haha. but seriously, what i always associated with this particular music of ours, holy terror if you wish, was that it should never be exposed to the "masses". and a decade later, that's still exactly the way i feel.
andy / REPUGNANT
October 6th, 2008 @ 9:08 am
Yeah, lets here about the false holy terrorists.
October 6th, 2008 @ 11:48 am
Readily evident…
October 6th, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
bands cant use the moniker of "holy terror" unless they have been invited to do so.
if you think that integrity is the definition of "holy terror" then you have all got it wrong. granted, 10 years ago, this band was doing things outside of the proverbial box, but it appears that those who think they know what they are talking about are still living in the past…
October 6th, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
http://www.myspace.com/holyterrorism
October 6th, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
I'll say this, Human Demise, from the Netherlands, and Envy Records, from Spain, don't get nearly enough credit in the whole "holy terror" resurgence thing. They were the first to really bring that term back in a sense, and this was almost three years ago when the "Whitechapel Demise" EP came out. I hadn't seen anyone blatantly use the term "holy terror" to refer to their style of hardcore in many years when that disc hit the streets, and it was a great EP, too.
October 6th, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Very glad this is finally seeing the light of day.
Are there actually bands out there that refer to themselves as being Holy Terror, who aren't actual church members? If so, like Nick said, please name names!
October 6th, 2008 @ 9:29 pm
There never was any "church".
October 6th, 2008 @ 9:34 pm
That's funny… I heard differently. Smoke and mirrors, man!
October 7th, 2008 @ 5:11 am
i am jealous!
October 7th, 2008 @ 7:27 am
From Seconds magazine #45, 1998:
"…it's not like an actual church that holds congregation, though. There's not anything like that. It's somewhat along the same lines as Boyd Rice's Abraxas Foundation, where he and some of his friends share the same ideas. The Holy Terror Church works more along those lines…"
October 7th, 2008 @ 11:03 am
lol
October 7th, 2008 @ 11:55 am
nice post. I will have to get this. thanks man!
October 10th, 2008 @ 6:21 pm
They -as an awesome band- never got the recognition the deserved; I and hope this reissue helps to make some justice with such a great and authentic band.
October 11th, 2008 @ 3:38 am
this sounds great
October 11th, 2008 @ 3:50 am
The Smiths started Holy Terror.
June 27th, 2010 @ 12:41 am
Does anyone have either of the two Repugnant Full Lengths? I can't find them anywhere?