Review by Felix on March 27, 2020.

Onslaught and Sacrilege have one thing in common. They are the British bands that changed their style faster than their compatriots the underpants. Sacrilege took a wild ride from crust over their very own form of thrash (if we neglect pretty typical thrashers such as “Insurrection”, the jewel that was never officially released on a regular full-length) to tiring doom. Their debut, originally published in 1985 – 35 years ago, f**k! – lurks around the crusty corners of punk while being supported by metallic guitars. Tam sounds like the sister of Sodom’s Angelripper. She appears as an angry brat, while each and every riff screams a big piss off in the face of the establishment and the playtime of only 26 minutes underlines the band’s contempt for usual designs. Sacrilege’s debut is not too far away from some releases of Broken Bones or English Dogs, but don’t think of pretty stale outputs like “Where Legend Began”. The songs boast with cruel sharpness and start a rebellion against all conventional guidelines. An infectious atmosphere is created, and I wonder that I still sit here on my chair instead of collecting followers for a revolution. I beg your pardon, but I have to do this right now….

…break…break…break…

Ah, sorry for the short interruption. Nobody was interested in my act of defiance; the revolution must wait. So, let’s get back to Beyond the Realms of Madness and pick out its two thirds instrumental. 'The Closing Irony' paves the way for the kind of riffing that made Within the Prophecy to such a fantastic record. It’s this kind of constantly drilling guitars that create the high degree of subliminal pressure and an uncomfortable touch of the apocalypse. I don’t know the (guitar) sound of the original release, but the remastered re-issue from 2015 boasts with excellently sawing and rasping guitars. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not only a good guitar sound, the entire mix scores with vehement compactness. Given this fact, all six original songs reveal an unexpected force, not only in view of the mostly high velocity. Finally, the band also had a close eye on a smooth flow of the tracks. Despite their rebellious aura, they rely on clearly defined and rather conservative patterns.

The bonus material of the re-issue is neither necessary nor annoying. Those who waited for demo versions of Within the Prophecy songs, here they will find them with a comparatively powerless sound. The live tracks at the end of the album also pass by without making the album better. More interesting are probably the new studio cuts 'Feed' (a slightly bulky number that commutes between mid- and up-tempo) and 'Dig Your Own Grave' (an impulsive eruption in the vein of the old material which stops in front of the two minutes mark). Good tunes, but the real thing is the work from 1985, the snot, the aggression, the uncompromising execution; and my evaluation mainly refers to these songs. Although Sacrilege (in 1985) and me (30 minutes ago) failed, the rebellion will come.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Krys on January 17, 2002.

So, to the already impressive list of comeback bands we can add Austria’s Pungent Stench. After 8 years of enjoying a quiet and relatively non-headbanging lifestyle (at least for some of the members), our trio is back and while it’s all a little bit less sick in the lyrical department, “Masters of Moral, Servants of Sin” brings the same good, classic style of death metal.

Take it as you like but from the objective point of view there are two sides to this album. While one can be really glad to hear good old school death based on a solid rhythm section and wrenching riffs, someone else won’t be too excited to hear something that could easily have belonged to the Pungent Stench discography 10 years ago.

Don’t get me wrong, this is very honest and solid album, but if you’re looking for an innovative, boundary breaking release turn around and walk away. However... if you are an old fart like me (I just turned 30! So all the nice words that I can’t print go here), then you might find yourself content with this material.

A variety of interesting and headbang-friendly riffs combined with controversial lyrics, disturbing artwork and photos was always a trademark for this band and nothing has changed this time. And since the subject of “Masters of Moral, Servants of Sin” is focused more on the social and religious aspects of our lives it makes it even more appealing to the casual listener than the gore and reek of band’s previous releases.

I’m actually looking forward to their future in which they again can establish themselves as a driving force in an underground scene but ‘til then it’s fun (although not always) to hear people saying “Pungent Stench? Oh, those guys from Hollenthone...”

Bottom Line: Pungent Stench and old school death metal fans should pick it up in a heartbeat, but all of you avant-gardes should give it a spin before you buy it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 6
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.2 out of 10