Choir of Horrors

With bands like Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Coroner, but also more obscure outfits such as Fear Of God, Excruciation and Infected, Switzerland has always been a fertile breeding ground for extreme metal. Originally formed in 1984, Messiah also played a vital role in the development of Swiss thrash and death metal. The band issued two truly groundbreaking records on their own Chainsaw Murder Records, »Hymn To Abramelin« in 1986 and »Extreme Cold Weather« a year later. In the early 1990s, Messiah signed to Karl Walterbach’s Noise Records label and issued three more full-length albums: »Choir Of Horrors« (1991), »Rotten Perish« (1992) and »Underground« (1994), with the line-up of Andy Kaina on vocals, who sadly passed away much too early in 2022, Steve Karrer on drums, Patrick Hersche on bass and band founder Brögi on guitar. Many consider 1991’s »Choir Of Horrors« to be one of the best – if not the best – album in Messiah’s enduring career. The album was produced by Sven Conquest at Sky Trak Studios in Berlin. Messiah Infernal Thrashing Records (MITR) now issues the 35th anniversary edition of said classic on vinyl and compact disc. “In my opinion, »Choir Of Horrors« marks the first album we were able to work fully professional,” comments guitarist and founding member Brögi. “It wasn’t as chaotic as our early work. Musically, »Choir Of Horrors« was more or less death metal, and therefore attracted a whole new generation of fans.” “It’s difficult to compare »Choir Of Horrors« to our early albums,” continues Brögi. “We had a completely new line-up, a cleaner production and more elaborate vocals. Nevertheless, the spirit and uniqueness of Messiah remained. The title track and ‘Akasha Chronicle’ are two of my favourite songs to play live.” The vocal performance of Messiah singer Andy Kaina (R.I.P.) on the eight songs of »Choir Of Horrors« is absolutely brilliant. Brögi agrees: “Oh, yes! He had a unique voice. Not just a regular death metal voice. His vocal delivery was very hoarse, and that made him special as a singer. And you can hear what he’s singing as well. He made »Choir Of Horrors« come into life and created a very special atmosphere.” The CD edition of »Choir Of Horrors« contains a bulk of exclusive bonus material, among other the pre-production of the album including an unreleased song called “Indescent Assault Of The Tribe” as well as live recordings from Switzerland (1992), Erlangen and Berlin (both 1993).MATTHIAS MADER