Band:	Nocturnus
Album:	The Key
Style:	Atmospheric death metal
Release date:	August 1990
Guest review by:	Clintagräm

01. Lake Of Fire
02. Standing In Blood
03. Visions From Beyond The Grave
04. Neolithic
05. Undead Journey
06. BC/AD (Before Christ/After Death)
07. Andromeda Strain
08. Droid Sector
09. Destroying The Manger
10. Empire Of The Sands

When you think of the early innovators of Death Metal, names like Possessed, Death, Master, Morbid Angel, and Deicide are probably what come to mind. And rightly so, they all had a huge impact on the genre, and are still credible, durable, and enjoyable today. But one album, which might pass by some people in favor of say, 'Altars of Madness' or 'Scream Bloody Gore,' was released in 1990 by band called Nocturnus from the home of many of the early Death Metal acts: Tampa, Florida.

That one album is called 'The Key.' The album itself doesn't deviate from the contemporary scene and is packed full of everything that you would expect from extreme metal at the time: neck-breaking riffs, blasting drums, blazing solos, tortured screams, and an energy that is sure to get a murderous mosh pit churning. However, there is one huge thing that sets this album apart from most, if not all, of the extreme music known at the time: KEYBOARDS.

The year of 1990 was a time before Symphonic Black Metal, "Extreme" Power Metal, or any other keyboard-laden Extreme Metal genre had really been set in stone. The innovation of digitized effects wasn't entirely new as some extreme bands (Possessed, Slayer, Morbid Angel) had used processed sounds before, but it was Nocturnus which made heavy use of the keys on every song and rightfully earned their album's name.

A note on musicianship: Mike Browning delivers the goods in an unusual combo of drumming and vocals, providing the listener with a solid foundation of blasts, along with some mid paced beats, and the occasional fill. His vocals are reminiscent of early David Vincent and Jeff Becerra, which were more of a forced rasp as opposed to guttural-produced sounds. Mike Davis and Sean McNenny managed to churn out plenty of speedy, heavy riffs but their real highlight are their shredding solos. And even though Jeff Estes is by no means a driving force on bass, his playing helps provide some solid groundwork for the music. Lastly, Louis Panzer manages to set all kinds of moods with the use of his keys, and while sometimes he seems to come off over the top, it's a very interesting and enjoyable listen all around. The album opener "Lake of Fire" is a perfect representation of the album as a whole, though each song has it's own identity.

All in all, the album is musically innovative, largely due to the use of keyboards and effects. Aside from that, the brand of Metal seen here isn't a major deviant of the scene at the time, but it is definitely better executed than some and while lyrical content isn't very flashy and quite primitive, the underlying concept and song titles are quite interesting. This album helped to breath new life into the scene and can be seen as a revolution in keyboard-heavy Extreme Metal.