"I'm your God now!", shouted, spat and screamed Robb Flynn and his friend Adam Duce in MACHINE HEAD's finest effort, Burn My Eyes, over 15 years ago. But oh how little did these four little zitheads from Nokia, Finland, know about these Oakland thrasher masters, or not that they even cared as a matter of fact, since it was already 1988, when these poor blonde and pale snotters were trying to tune their instruments in somewhat bearably playable condition. Somehow they finally succeeded.
First, after trying to play then-hyped speed/thrash metal, or some sort of variation of it in vein of STONE, under the name S.D.S. they changed it after one year to CONVULSE (which most certainly must NOT be confused with this horrible Italian "band" CONVULSED, *yaiks*) and released two demos, both from 1990, Rehearsal (very innovative and original title, right?) and then Resusciation of Evilness.
Then, after two years of playing live, finding their identity and place in the exciting and mystical wonder land of Metal Music and most probably following what The Masters were doing on the other side of the Ocean, not in America stupid, but in Sweden, in the land of tasty meatballs, *yummy*.
But, it's not time get hungry and fill the rumen yet. Instead, let's get back to ear candy, shall we? So, if Swedish death metal (yes, the one genre you should worship daily), is at least a bit familiar to you, you know already what CONVULSE is all about. Bands such as AUTOPSY, DISMEMBER, ENTOMBED, NIRVANA2002 and Nicke Anderssons's satan-as-fuck DEATH BREATH are very gladly to be associated with CONVULSE, or the other way around, it doesn't matter. But as the Swedish brothers and sisters were getting some fame and bigger audiences, poor Finnish death metallers, like DEMIGOD and SCUM, had to settle to play in much smaller venues (well, clubs most likely or not even those, because sometimes every place was fine as long as the band could play), just to understand that playing death metal wholeheartedly and with satan-filled soul in 1991 in Finland is not something that brings meatballs to the table to satisfy hard-working metal heads' hunger every day. Death metal was, and thank Godsatanorwhateveryouworshipanyway, still is music for the minority. Let's keep it that way.
But fortunately these few Finnish bands did carry on, at least a while, despite their lack of good fortune and bling-bling fame, exluding AMORPHIS that already was doing tours in USA in the 90's. So thanks to the efforts of these Finnish bands, we still have a chance to enjoy this high quality shit after many years. Relapse Records has done it previously with other amazing bands and now just re-released CONVULSE's debut album, World Without God, with their first demo tape, Resusciation of Evilness, and with two live tracks, live cover of VENOM's Countess Bathory and Incantation of Restoration, which both also can be found in Live in Pain single from 1994.
As I mentioned in my first post/review/whatever that the golden era of the 90's in Finnish death metal, early-AMORPHIS and their debut Karelian Isthmus and EP Privilege of Evil for example, spawned some now-hard-to-find-classics. And CONVULSE's World Without God is one of those. If tracks like Powerstruggle of Belief doesn't make you bang your head and go more than mentally crazy like a pirate with scurvy after getting an overdose of vitamin C (I know one cannot OD on vitamin C but this isn't a biology lesson after all), you better check the date in your Death Metal Certificate and update it immediately. And holy ma'fukin'cowly if the title track of their first demo tape, Resusciation of Evilness, would have been done any of the Swedish death metal bands mentioned above, it most certainly would nowadays be one of the prime examples of the pure, classic and undisputed Swedish death fucking metal.
Speaking of which, you might have seen and heard... I mean, you should own this great 3-CD compilation from last year, simply titled Swedish Death Metal. If there one day is another, similar to that, but only gathering Finnish death metal bands together and concentrating on that a-fist-in-your-face era, then CONVULSE will be in that compiltation undoubtetly. CONVULSE's songs make my red, juicy meat turn into more and more tastier, bigger and crunchier than it already is. Their songs on the debut album show an obvious talent of doing the one of the best things music has ever created: pure death metal. And the way it should be presented: raw, dark, massive, crushing and groovy as udders. But just like most of their fellow metalheads in that era, CONVULSE also changed their style more towards to death 'n' roll. Their second album, Reflections, released 1994, was a shift to something else. After that CONVULSE was buried but of course, is not forgotten.
But damn, World Without God should be in the same category as ENTOMBED's and DISMEMBER's first two albums. Am I exaggerating way way way too much now or am I just being subjective because CONVULSE is a Finnish band? I say: "Cud you!!!".
So, here's your change to re-live those years again and again when every new band seemed to offer something special, new and unique and emerged more and more acts to crush your skull and made you wave those hooves like you just don't care. Get this album. Now! You hear me? This album is already one raging cow, and me turning into one is not nice to witness, so do as I moo.
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