Quite possibly the finest Rampage release to date, "This End Up" is a huge leap forward from the bands debut "Misogyny..." EP. Whereas the first release ran the gamut of musical styles (and may have suffered because of this in the opinion of some (although not mine)), "This End Up" is firmly rooted in the old school proto-death/black/thrash vein. An obvious point of reference would be Possessed's "Seven Churches" (as should be clear to anyone who glances upon the artwork for this release), but don't take this to be a parody or a copy-cat of the above mentioned slab-o-death : Rampage have their own particularly morbid take on the genre, and while infused with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour, a parody this is most certainly NOT. From the opening riff of "Bloody Leg" to the final seconds of "Eye of the Hellstorm" (not counting the "secret" bonus tracks to be found on most of the bands releases), Rampage manage to bring back the spirit of what metal USED to be about before the hijacking of the style by numerous baggy-pant wearing trendoids and their baseball cap brethren. Remember when bright orange hair and plastic pants would be reason enough for a severe beating ? You will. Remember when headbanging and shoving "the horns" in the air at gigs were the norm ? You will. Remember when how hard and fast a band played was more important than what brand of mascara they wore ? You will. Rampage will take you back to a glorious era when metal was still metal and very little else mattered. I suppose I could go into a track by track breakdown, or comment on the individual musical components which make "This End Up" such a roller coaster ride of a listening experience, but as is the case with many things worth their while, words could hardly do them justice, and such isolation and emphasis on individual factors simply can't convey the appropriate level of how it's the COHESION of all the elements which make this such a great fucking album. Let me just say this : in 10 years time when yet another nostalgic revival of the glorious metal past comes around, this will be one of those albums that will be whispered about with reverence if there's any sort of justice in the world, and you would be a fool not to pick this up now while it's still available instead of bitching and moaning about it's unavailability in the future. You have been warned...

© 1999 chorazaim