The Classic Metal Album Review:
Title: Tower of Spite
Artist: Cerebral Fix
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release Date: 1990

Rating: 4 Skulls
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    • Slither's Review:
    Birmingham is not generally an area of the world one associates with fantastic early death metal, quite the grinding opposite in fact. But, if more metal fans had a copy of 1990's Tower of Spite that association might be a more common occurrence within the synapses of the community. A real no nonsense sort of album, the thrash-cum-doom/death stylings of this disc should have snagged all the same fans who to this day worship Séance, Celtic Frost, and Candlemass. But alas, even the nearly sing-along goodness of this album's lumbering death marches were not enough to garner a fanbase back in the day. Why you ask? Because this album represented a rather drastic shift in style for Cerebral Fix and extreme music fans are a fickle lot.

    Previous to this release the band saw its founding bass player leave to join Benediction and fans onboard for the hardcore trimmings of their Life Sucks... album would be disappointed to learn that vocalist Simon Forrest dropped the ranting shout in favor of a bizarre shriek. When viewed as an eclectic piece I find his new tone charming, but I imagine to a fan of the first album it was a bit much to absorb. Though I enjoy the crust sound of that first release it really isn't for the same group of fans as the follow up. By all means though, if you enjoy the Concrete Sox and Crumbsuckers then give the debut a shot.

    With a convincing improvement in their level of song writing despite the...ahem...odd sound of the vocals, this release has enough rumble and heft to pacify purists from both the death and doom schools while keeping the pace up enough to remind the listener that this band has roots in the age of thrash and crossover. Blatantly rocking drums do serve to tone down the doom atmosphere a bit but when dealing with an amalgam of styles like this I tend to feel a bit more liberal with adjectives. Candlemass is an appropriate reference for that aspect of the band's style but to those seeking truly doomy DOOM look elsewhere because that ingredient in Cerebral Fix's pot is more just a dash for flavor.

    This album hits my stereo at least once a week and though sometimes I think it it’s more fun to talk about because of it developmental significance than because of its songs, it is still damn fine. Perhaps not a true classic in that traditional timeless fashion but certainly a gem worth uncovering for the discerning metal fan.
    4 out of 5

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