Review Summary: "THE SOW IS MINE!"
You won't have heard of Possesed Jewel. Why? For the simple reason that they were about as underground as a thrash band could get, and while just as capable as many of the genres greats, they never really managed to make their mark. As a proud owner of one of only 97 hand numbered copies of their lone cassette release though, I can tell you that "Regan" is damn good. Maybe not Master Of Puppets good. Not Hell Awaits good, and not even Spectrum of Death good. But still bloody good.
You've probably guessed from the title, artwork and tracklist that "Regan" is a shameless musical rehash of The Excorcist, and you guessed right. The record relies heavily on ( what I'm assuming were illegaly used) chunks of dialogue and sound from the film, which work very well in setting the mood for the excellent, balls out thrash that Possesed Jewel builds around them.Don't mistake this to mean that the album is one long soundbite though. After the disconcerting, eastern-tinged intro track IRAQ, the band kicks in with full force, with the pounding, relentless onslaught that is THE PENDANT. The riffs here are as good as any I have heard, and the vocalist (whoever it was) Barks out every lyric like some kind of hellhound.
The guitar work is very versatile, and holds my interest long past the halfway mark. There is a lot of Middle-eastern influence in the sound, especially on tracks like THE OUJIA'S REPLY, THE THING UPSTAIRS and THE RITUAL. The riffs also work beyond the level of simple guitar wankery, and actually work really well as a way of telling the story of The Excorcist, switching pace and intensity according each chapter of Regan's miserable story.
It's a damn shame that "Regan" never reached a mainstream (or even much of an underground) audience, because it's an album that entertains on so many levels. My only real complaint is the drumming, which are a little muffled in the mix, and don't really achieve what they could have if the production had been better.
Overall though, POSSESED JEWEL's "REGAN" Is probably the best old-school thrash album you'll never hear.
It's almost as good as my favourite thrash album of all time, EXHORDER'S "SLAUGHTER IN THE VATICAN"
