''The Key'' is the debut studio album from American

technical death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

band

Nocturnus Nocturnus, currently Nocturnus AD, is an American death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1987 by the drummer/vocalist Mike Browning (formerly of Morbid Angel). They were known for their science-fiction themed lyrics and use of keyboards, ...

. It was released on

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

on 1st October 1990. A concept album, ''The Key'' is centered on an occult (the influence of drummer/vocalist

Mike Browning Michael George Browning (born May 26, 1964) is an American heavy metal drummer and vocalist. Life and career Browning started to play drums at 13 years old. His main influences are Black Sabbath, Slayer, Angel Witch, Mercyful Fate, and Cel ...

) meets

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

(influenced by guitarist Mike Davis) theme. The story follows a

cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

who travels back in time to the year 0 B.C. to assassinate

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

which leads to the destruction of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(highlighted by the controversial track "Destroying the Manger") and the creation of a modern empire. In addition to their unusual lyrical content, the band employed the use of keyboards which was virtually unheard of at the time in the broader genre of death metal. The keyboards were generally used for song intros and more atmospheric purposes, however, and most of the album was based upon a more conventional guitar and drums approach, with

Kam Lee Barney Kamalani "Kam" Lee is an American death metal vocalist. He is best known for his vocal contributions to an early incarnation of Death (called Mantas) from 1983 to 1984, and later joined Massacre in 1985. Career Massacre recorded two d ...

Massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

providing backing vocals. Due to the increased complexity and experimentation, some have considered the release to be the first progressive death metal album. Browning has claimed that he has not seen any royalties from either this album or its follow up since he was kicked out of the band, blaming both former band members and Earache Records.

Track listing

Personnel

Nocturnus

- lead vocals, drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

* Mike Davis -

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and rhythm guitar *Sean McNenney - lead and rhythm guitar *Jeff Estes -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Louis Panzer - keyboards

Additional personnel

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Production

*Produced by Tom Morris and

*Engineered by Tom Morris; recorded at Morrisond Studio,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

*Cover art by

Dan Seagrave Daniel Seagrave (born 1970) is a British artist, who created many record covers for death metal bands especially in the early 1990s. He lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He grew up in Ravenshead, near Nottingham. Seagrave's works are typically ...

*Logo by R.P. Roberts *All music by

*Lyrics on tracks 1, 2, 3, and 5 by Mike Browning *Lyrics on tracks 4, 6, 7, and 9 by Mike Browning and Mike Davis *Lyrics on track 8 by Mike Browning, Mike Davis, and Louis Panzer

References

External links

Nocturnus fan siteMetal Archives
1990 debut albums Nocturnus albums Earache Records albums Concept albums Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording Albums with cover art by Dan Seagrave {{1990s-death-metal-album-stub