VENGEANCE RISING Demo 1988

Roger Martinez-vocals
Glenn Mancaruso-drums
Roger Dale Martin-bass
Larry Farkas-guitars
Doug Thieme-guitars

*Not sure if Glenn Rogers plays on this, have to see if he shows up in this thread....

1.White throne
2.He is God
3.Salvation
4.Human sacrifice
5.Beheaded
6.Message from Mathew


...It all begins here man, This demo came out in 1988 just a few months before Vengeance's( as they were called at the time) first full length was released by Intense records. This demo featured some slightly slower versions of the tracks that are on the Human sacrifice album, tracks like White throne, He is God, and others are pretty noticable in that regard, but still reckless and thrashy as hell. Some different solos and leads then the album but pretty much the same songs and lyrics. There is a different verse in Salvation and beheaded has a spoken word type thing that is a verse from the bible. As for the songs, IMO a couple weird choices for their first demo as Salvation AND he is God are both on this. These are both tracks that are under a minute long..haha. Just weird to have for a demo I guess. The tape ends with a short message from Roger about a letter from a fan, pretty cool way to close off the demo.

Since this sucker is mega rare, I will post the megaupload file to anybody that wants it so they can take a listen. Await the next Vengeance rising album friends I will have it soon.

I don't believe that Glenn Rogers played on this demo, though some of his songs are featured.

Quote:

The original Vengeance lineup formed in 1986 in South Bay, CA and was made-up of Doug Thieme, Roger Dale Martin, Glen Mancaruso, Mike Betts (Neon Cross) and a girl singer named Sharon. The name of the band right up to their first gig was Sacrifice. Sacrifice was to perform their first gig with Barren Cross, Malacia and Neon Cross, but the name was changed to Vengeance a week before the gig. Glenn Rogers (Deliverance), who wrote much of the material on the band's first album came in later in 1986. In 1987 Pastor Bob Beeman brought together singer Roger Martinez and Vengeance. Guitarist Larry Farkas would replace Glenn Rogers in 1987, well before their first album would be recorded.

I don't actually own this demo, but it really doesn't sound all that different than the full length album that will be coming next, so I'll hold off comments until then.

I don't have it, but I would like to hear it.

I used to own this. One time after playing at The Oasis in Hollywood. I gave it to this homeless person who had a walkman.

I dont have this demo either,so I'll do like Ult and wait to respond.

This is where it all started for me. I was only into traditional metal and glam metal when I first got this demo. I was only a kid. But I subscribed to White Throne magazine and they covered this demo. So I ordered it.

I didn't like it at first, simply because it was so foreign to me. I had never heard any thrash yet. So just like Stryper got me into metal, Vengeance got me into thrash.

I'll never forget being so utterly blown away by the screaming at the end of "Beheaded". So yes, this is a special demo to me.

I bought their album the day it was released as well. It was before they 'reissued' it with the Rising part of their name.


Wow, what memories.

I would love to hear the demo as well. It would be cool to listen to it (and own for that matter ). I'll post more comments once the album reviews come out. Really looking forward to this thread as VR was one of the first thrash bands I listened to.

Hey Stender, WE WANT HUMAN SACRIFICE!!!

My least favorite VR. All due respect to Glenn, the music on this album is just sloppy, IMO. I feel it was extreme for the sake of being extreme. They would refine their sound and come into their own on their next album.

Great thrash album. Currently my only VR album, but I hope to remedy that soon.

I saw this band alot Roger Dale was a friend since the Emerald days and it was kewl seeing this type of music come from a Sanctuary band. Of which, I don't believe Sacred Warrior was as Stender mentioned. They were from Illinois. Anyways, I have this on vinyl with the plain ol' Vengeance logo.

Burn and Mulligan Stew are favorites. I recall they messed around with arrangements of songs here and there onstage. Could have them confused with another band from back then ? The memory isn't what it used to be.

oops, your right james. My bad, for some reason I thought they were from the same area because of Roger guest vocaling on the flood off masters command.

Simply one of the best thrash metal releases to come out of California! I was a young Christian, still in college when this CD came out. I wasn't all that familiar with "Christian metal", though I did know about bands like Bloodgood, Stryper and Saint. I stopped in a little Christian bookstore while I was out on a delivery for my summer job. I checked out some of the music in their demo/listening section. The cover for Human Sacrifice was pretty gory, but also very cool. I stuck it in the player and was blown away. I bought the tape immediately.

I played that tape over and over again. I took the tape back to school with me and played it for my roommate. He was not a Christian and listened to a lot of punk, thrash, etc. He too was impressed.

I remember this part distinctly. I said to myself, while I was playing this tape at maximum volume in my car, "if I ever sing in a Chistian band, I'm going to sing in a band just like this." That would have been in 1988. Who would have thought that in 2004 I would be singing for this very band at their first reunion concert.

Human Sacrifice is sheer, RAW intensity. It's not produced particularly well, nor is their timing on the songs perfect. Rather, this album had something that I had not really heard in a thrash metal band since Kill 'Em All and Bonded by Blood. This was pure energy. It was raw! However, it didn't forsake hooks. The guitar solos were jaw dropping. I became an instant fan of this band upon buying that tape.

I've since replaced my tape with a CD and vinyl copy.

I think Once Dead was a very solid album, This was my first exposure to them, I love their cover of Space Truckin....

Human Sacrifice is an excellent, excellent, awesome thrash album by any band. This is a must have for any thrash fan, nuff said. I used to have a t-shirt of the album cover. I can't remember if it had the rising on it or not.

Originally released under the Vengeance moniker, the band had to change their name to Vengeance Rising due to copyright laws. Only 1000 CD's were ever printed without 'Rising' added. The music on this album is awesome! This is raw and relentless thrash metal. Vengeance Rising managed to create a style of their own. It might be because none of the members were really into this kind of music. Most of them were metalheads alright, but I don't think they were too familiar with the thrash metal movement, especially not the European scene, prior to joining Vengeance. Still they managed to record one of the best albums in the genre. From note one, to the last, this is a platter that never gets dull. The production is a bit muddy, but it never takes away anything from the music. And despite Roger's death-like thrash vocals, the words he sings are still very easy to hear. If you are familiar with the late Paul Baloff (Exodus), and the song "Metal Command", you know what Roger sound like. Their obvious Christian lifestyle, and lyrical approach, set them apart in the crowd. Their image and approach managed to create some controversy in the secular market, and maybe even more so in the Christian market. Bob Beeman's crucified hand, together with the blood-dripping lyrics (still all very Bible-based), were more than many conservative Christians could take. I might be biased when it comes to this album, as it is probably one of the single most influential albums in my life, but I will also claim that 'Human Sacrifice' have managed to stand the test of time. This is one of the very few Christian metal albums I managed to get my unsaved friends to listen to, and open them up for my beliefs. And not only did they like what they heard, they also went out and bought it themselves! So to say that this is a thrash metal masterpiece would not be an exaggeration.
I bought the first pressing of this album as a new release, but then on cassette only. After I got internet, one of the first items I hunted down was this CD. I managed to snag both one with and one without the 'Rising'. Then I accidentally traded away the original pressing! Oh well, it's the music that counts. I also met up with Glenn Rogers in January, 2009. I had him sign my copy of this album. Although he doesn't play a note on the actual album, he co-wrote several of the songs here.

Killer tracks: All of them.

The most extreme christian metal album at the time,Human Sacrifice is one ferocious slab of metal.I actually bought Once Dead before I got this album.Its a bit sloppier than the follow up but what you get here is bare bones in your face thrash.They dont make any apologies with songs like Burn and Beheaded.Its like a bible study set to Thrash metal.One of my favorite albums ever.

Great album, I have the pressing without the 'Rising' as well as a white Vengeance shirt with 'Burn, Satan, Burn' on it thanks to ebay. A couple of the more popular songs, I actually don't like as much, for example 'Mulligan's Stew', but 'White Throne' through 'Ascension' is just about perfect. A line here or there makes me go 'errr' ("...once Lucifer, now Satan..") but this album is very solid and I actually enjoy it a lot more than 'Once Dead'.

Fantastic album! I was into this band since they released their demo a year prior, so I was holding my breath for this one. I bought it right away and got one of the first pressings with just the "Vengeance" name.

I was floored by this album. I spun it over and over and over again.

It's my second favorite Vengeance Rising album to this day. It has stood the test of time nicely too I might add.

I'd rank the VR catalogue like so:

1. Destruction Comes (this to me is their peak)
2. Human Sacrifice
3. Once Dead
4. Released Upon the Earth


They didn't release a bad album.

I've never been much of a VR fan but I figured I'd share my story of when I first heard'em. Back around the time HUMAN SACRIFICE was released I had a college friend who was very active in the campus ministry and so forth, and he was instrumental in getting me into the "underground" Christian metal scene -- he had noticed me rocking Stryper and Barren Cross t-shirts around campus (those being the only two Christian bands I was into/familiar with at the time) and he intro'd me to some of the other bands coming out that I probably wouldn't have heard otherwise. He took me to the Christian book/music store that was his "source" a couple of times and would send me off to the listening booth with the store's demo copies of stuff by Deliverance, Bride, X-Sinner, Sacred Warrior, yadda yadda yadda. I was totally digging all that stuff and one day he told me to check out Vengeance (I am not sure if the "Rising" was attached to the band's name by this point or not). I took that tape into the booth, put the headphones on and when Roger's vox kicked in I was like WHOA! I literally said "What the HELL is this??" Haha.

Ya gotta remember that I was coming from a mostly "secular" metal standpoint, and I have never been a fan of WOOOOAARRRRRGH style vox either. Roger's vocals were some of the SCREECHIEST, unhinged I'd heard up to that point in time, so Christian Death Metal was a little too gnarly/off the wall for me. What little I remember of the band musically was pretty solid, but those vocals are definitely a "love it or hate it" proposition, and obviously I fell on the "hate it" side.

I remember one of the store employees (another metalhead) found my reaction to Vengeance kind of humorous, especially when I came out of the listening booth after a few songs (I probably had smoke coming out of my ears, haha), handed the tape back to him and said "Mmmm, nah, I think I'll be passing on that one, thanks. What else ya got?" Haha. He told me about Roger being a real live pastor at a California church in addition to his band duties, so I made a lame joke about him using THAT voice during his sermons (in gurgling death metal voice: "GET UP BRUTHAS AND SISTAS! CAN I GET A HALLELUUUUUU-JAH?"), which he thought was pretty funny. So that was pretty much the end of me with Vengeance Rising.

I followed the VR saga and the post-VR Roger Martinez controversy from afar over the years and though I can respect the band for being one of the first, if not THE first, band to play so called "extreme" Christian metal, what little I heard from HUMAN SACRIFICE on that day 20+ years ago was enough for me.

I bought this cassette new as a young teenager in a Christian bookstore. At that time I was on a ever increasing exposure to heavier, faster metal. It seemed like the heavier and faster stuff I heard, the more consumed I became. Until Human Sacrifice the most extreme I had was Deliverance S/T which I had first. I remember just being completely blown away by this album. This was also my first exposure to screaming/growling vocals which also totally gripped me and in my young mind, added a whole other dimension of brutal and heavy metal. Just a monumental album in my life to this day.

Favorite songs have always been, Mulligan Stew, I Love Hating Evil, Beheaded...oh hell, all of 'em!

Like Ult says, it's just perfection....STILL.