{"id":27298,"date":"2013-02-17T19:50:05","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T00:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=27298"},"modified":"2014-01-24T09:06:29","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T14:06:29","slug":"midas-touch-presage-of-disaster-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/midas-touch-presage-of-disaster-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Midas Touch | Presage of Disaster<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– News Editor \/ Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"MidasHere\u2019s another lost gem from the thrash metal vaults that has been brought back to life by Divebomb Records. Midas Touch was a thrash metal band from Sweden that was active in the second half of the 1980s. Despite the fact that their debut album, released by the Noise Records label \u2013 1989\u2019s Presage of Disaster<\/em> \u2013 sold fairly well, the band never issued a follow up and folded shortly after its release.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the lack of an identifiable scene, like the Bay Area or German thrash scenes, worked against Midas Touch. Sweden is not exactly the first place you think of when it comes to classic thrash metal. Scene or not, Midas Touch put out a very solid thrash metal album in Presage of Disaster. It\u2019s a high speed, highly technical offering that shows a very strong Metallica influence. There are also traces of Testament and maybe Kreator, but for the most part this is an exercise in Metallica worship, not that that\u2019s a bad thing, especially in 1989. The lightning riffs, barked vocals and socio-political lyrics are all trademarks of the classic thrash sound, and they\u2019re all covered here, though Midas Touch adds a certain epic \u201cMaster of Puppets\u201d feel to songs like \u201cForcibly Incarcerated\u201d and \u201cWhen the Boot Comes Down.\u201d Songs like \u201cSepulchral Epitaph\u201d and \u201cAceldama \u2013 Terminal Breath\u201d are more straightforward speed fests, but they\u2019re just as effective. <\/p>\n

Midas Touch may not have been the most innovative thrash metal band around, but they played this kind of music very well. Presage of Disaster is an album that\u2019s worth another look all these years later, especially now that it has been reissued.<\/p>\n

Divebomb\u2019s 2012 reissue of Presage of Disaster<\/em> puts this long out of print (and very pricy) gem back into circulation, and does it in style. This hefty, 2-disc reissue features the full Presage of Disaster album, newly remastered by Jamie King (Deathwish, Confessor), on the first disc along with the band\u2019s 3-song 1990 The Deliberate Stranger<\/em> demos. Disc 2 is loaded with rare and previously unreleased demo material, including five songs from the band\u2019s 1988 Noise Records sessions and the complete 10-song 1987 Ground Zero<\/em> demo cassette. The remastered album is obviously the main attraction, but the demos are a lot of fun to hear, whether it\u2019s the rawer, almost punk-like energy of the Ground Zero songs or the harsher, more aggressive nature of the later The Deliberate Stranger<\/em> recordings. You get a really good sense of where Midas Touch came from and where they might have gone. The booklet is also quite nice, with rare photos and an informative band essay.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an old school thrash metal disciple, this is a reissue that you\u2019re going to want to own. And even if you already own the original Noise pressing of Presage of Disaster, this reissue has enough extras to make it a worthwhile upgrade.<\/p>\n

Genre: Thrash Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nPatrik Sporrong (b)
\nRickard Sporrong (g)
\nPatrik Wiren (v)
\nLasse Gustavson (g)
\nBosse Lundstrom (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:<\/p>\n

Disc 1
\n1.\tThe Arrival
\n2.\tForcibly Incarcerated
\n3.\tSinking Censorship
\n4.\tWhen the Boot Comes Down
\n5.\tTrue Believers Inc.
\n6.\tReminiscence
\n7.\tSepulchral Epitaph
\n8.\tLost Paradise
\n9.\tAccessory Before the Fact
\n10.\tAceldama \u2013 Terminal Breath
\n11.\tSubhumanity (a New Cycle)
\n12.\tThe Deliberate Stranger (1990 demo)
\n13.\tSource of Discontent (1990 demo)
\n14.\tSo Shall You Reap (1990 demo)<\/p>\n

Disc 2
\n1.\tForcibly Incarcerated (Involuntary Custody) (Noise Records demo)
\n2.\tPow Wow (Noise Records demo)
\n3.\tTru Believers Inc. (Noise Records demo)
\n4.\tWhen the Boot Comes Down (Noise Records demo)
\n5.\t(The Shape) of Rage (Noise Records demo)
\n6.\tPow Wow (Ground Zero demo)
\n7.\t(The Shape) of Rage (Ground Zero demo)
\n8.\tWhen the Boot Comes Down (Ground Zero demo)
\n9.\tSubside Vision (Ground Zero demo)
\n10.\tStrikezone (Ground Zero demo)
\n11.\tM.A.D. (Armed for Justice) (Ground Zero demo)
\n12.\tThe Dice (Ground Zero demo)
\n13.\tMasquerade (Ground Zero demo)
\n14.\tInstant Blaze (Ground Zero demo)
\n15.\tTatsch Tooo Matsch (Ground Zero demo)<\/p>\n

Label: Divebomb Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/midastouchswe<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – News Editor \/ Senior Columnist — Here\u2019s another lost gem from the thrash metal vaults that has been brought back to life by Divebomb Records. Midas Touch was a thrash metal […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,923,334,1101],"class_list":{"0":"post-27298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2013","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-divebomb-records","9":"tag-review","10":"tag-thrash-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}