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cerebus frombeyondthevaultdoor
Artist: Cerebus
Title: From Beyond The Vault Door
Genre: Heavy Metal / Power Metal
Release Date: 2nd August 2019
Label: Heaven and Hell Records


Album Review

Bow down before the gods of obscure reissues: Heaven and Hell Records! This time around I listen to CEREBUS. CEREBUS is a 5-piece band from Greensboro, North Carolina that has recorded three demos, 2 EPs and a full length from 1984 - 1991. Let’s look what Jeremy Golden of Heaven and Hell Records has to say about his endeavour to get his hands on the desired song material:

“For several years H&H Records would bring up with members of the band the idea of properly reissuing the U.S. Metal classic ‘Too Late to Pray’. However, nothing ever seemed to come of it. Sometime back in 2016, the label began to look back into the possibility of such a project with more seriousness than ever before. It seemed the timing was right for such an endeavour. We never expected that it would lead to other releases and a resurrected band. When we began the project three years ago it was revealed to us that the band were sitting on several early unreleased recordings. These recordings span the years that CEREBUS were active from the early 1980s and into the early 1990s. Many of which had never been properly archived and several are still unlabelled and still have not yet been gone through.

These recordings demonstrated a hard-working band who knew their craft and created well-structured catch Heavy Metal and Hard Rock songs with very deep hooks. Each composition honoured the band’s influences of both NWOBHM and British Classic Rock. Here is a collection of just some of the recordings chosen by the band for this release. Coming from various sources, all have been cleaned up as best as possible for this collective presentation. Audio quality varies throughout but it is important to bear in mind that these recordings are old demos and rehearsal tapes that were never intended for release. We know that fans will enjoy hearing these rare recordings.”

Thanks for all the time, blood and sweat Jeremy! To describe CEREBUS’ sound is a quest of its own as there are lots of influences to be discovered. On the one hand the band’s love for the NWOBHM is obvious but on the other hand I can detect influences of 70s and 80s bands galore - ‘American Dream’ reminds of DEEP PURPLE, ‘Gone Away’ has a vibe that lets you think of WHITESNAKE and even MR BIG (thx to Board’s vocals). All in all, I am a big fan of CEREBUS’ sound and songs and cannot await the new material.


Tracklist

01. Long Time Comin’ 1984
02. Gone Away 1984
03.  She Burns 1985
04.  Out In The Streets 1986
05. Never Look Back 1986
06. Losers and Winners 1987'/88
07. A Cry For Help 1987'/88
08. Dyin’ Inside 1987'/88
09. In The End 1987'/88
10.  Reflections 1987'/88
11. Change For The Worse 1987'/88
12. Come Rock the Night 1984
13. No Secret 1985
14. We Stand Alone 1986
15. Don’t Go To Sleep 1986
16. American Dream 1986
17. Call to Arms


Line-up

Eric Burgess – Bass
Scott Board – Vocals
Joby Barker – Drums
Chris Pennell – Guitars
Andy Huffine – Guitars


Website

https://heavenandhellrecords.bandcamp.com /www.heavenandhellrecords.com


Cover Picture

cerebus frombeyondthevaultdoor


Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10

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