Retro Review: Repugnant "Epitome of Darkness" Review (TOBIAS FORGE GOES DEATH METAL!)

[@Gregbaltzer]

Some people call themselves music lover, I think Tobias is the real deal. The guy just seems to love music, and performing it, no matter what genre of music it is. He just appreciates music. I'd love to say I'm the same, but I'm not. I'm a metal/punk/70s hard rock guy...I know it. I don't begrudge him with the success he's had with Ghost. The guy paid his dues with tons of underground bands, he deserves the success he's found. Lets face it, Repugnant wasn't going to pay his bills and support his family. Even Tobias has said he wished it had gone further. I enjoy Ghost, but I miss the mystique surrounding the band. Same with Slipknot, when I was huge into them. I missed when you didn't know the members of the band. I couldn't image back in 1999 that I'd someday see the singer of Wait in Bleed smiling in fedora, and singing light/hard rock in Stonesour.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I would agree and I think he's got a great ear for it as well. I think Ghost has kinda brought back the spectacle of those massive 80's shows from like Ozzy and Iron Maiden in a way which I think is a ton of fun. My musical wheelhouse is a bit broad but I definitely tend to gravitate to the extreme stuff and this is 100% that. Part of me misses the mystique of the masked acts but it's hard to stay invisible these days and honestly I think removing the mystique puts the focus more on the music now. I think that really tests the band in terms of their staying power and so far it seems to be working for Tobias.

[@romaincassignol]

I have discovered this hidden gem few months ago, and yes, this is pure Amazing Swedish Death Metal.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- This album still seems to fly under the radar a bit honestly. I picked it up not knowing Tobias was in it and I was pretty damn impressed.

[@FruityHachi]

didn't know Tobias is considered a divisive figure, I can just guess that it's stemming from metal purists he literally received an award for being a creative visionary and seems like a cool guy, I appreciate him for his creativity and genuine love for music

[@moosemoose2690]

Love Ghost a lot very campy very fun, and before Ghost i had never listened to hard rock and metal. Then i found Repugnant after researching Tobias Forge and that was my first intro to death metal and i LOOOVEDD it. So so so good.

[@thecosmicpallbearer]

I love this album a lot. Tobias is a hero of mine and this album has gotten regular rotation from me for years. It's the apex of the post-Entombed/Dismember version of the HM-2 sound since the tone still has tons of balls.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I dig this one. I like how raw and ugly it is and how it has more of thrashy sound mixed it. It reminded me a lot of Desultory's amazing debut honestly.

[@32FONickweiser]

So a bud of mine met Ghost outside of their suits before they went public. Early days of speculation of Tobias maybe being Papa, he decided to bring his CD booklet of this Repugnant album to sign and Tobias signed it full name and all. He was worried it would get shot down due to the band trying to maintain the mystique at the time but nope Forge was totally cool about it and was thankful to sign one!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Dude, that's really cool of him. I've heard he's a pretty solid dude and you can tell he really appreciates all of his fans.

[@paulseidler1644]

This album actually kicks ass. Checked it out a few years back after already being into Ghost for a while and was not disappointed. Funny because the haters can hate all they want, but Tobias actually does know his metal and was definitely raised on that 80s scene. The guy is always seen wearing kreator and voivod shirts lol. Regardless what you think of Ghost, the guy is anything but a poser.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- It's pretty damn underrated and holy shit does it pack a nasty punch. I'm still a Ghost fan but that band really doesn't appeal to my metal side as much as it does my love of more 80's pop related stuff. Tobias is a solid songwriter in general as far as I've heard and he's got some solid underground roots with what he listens to and this band in particular.

[@robertsparling917]

Next retro review needs to be about the Swedish grindcore act Nasum! Also, another retro review that should be done is Human Waste Project with their lone full-length E-Lux. Jammin Jon brought that album up in his 20 meaningful albums from his teenage years video.

[@jamesgwarrior1981]

Wasn’t Human Waste Project associated with Korn?

[@robertsparling917]

@@jamesgwarrior1981 No.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I think the next one will be Tardy Brothers actually.

[@MRSludgedude]

@@thrallsofmetal I need to find gems from the 10s . That was a boring decade and I ignored most all music until 2015. Minus a few. Had the neo thrash bands and some sludge greats but missing alot of stuff that's extreme in the 10s.

[@KevinTarrant-by3fi]

Fantastic album! 4 of 5!🤘

[@GeekFurious]

Damn. I thought I knew everything about Repugnant but I learned some things in this video.

[@jasonscholl2945]

On Ghost....I liked the vibe of Opus Eponymous and really liked Infesstisumam. Secular Haze video sold me on the Ghost shtick...beyond that not so much. For me it became hit and miss after infest. (Maybe it was the member changes? Mainstream fame?) However Ghost's cover of Here Comes The Sun, and the video for it, feat scenes from Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising occult film, was their peak for me. If Ghost stayed more firmly in the "spooky" side of their sound, I'd be a more dedicated fan. One can't deny they are initiates of high luciferian pop musicianship. Ghost perfectly encapsulates the likes of Blue Öyster Cult, Beach Boys, Abba, Beatles, and more. A good band for Millennial-age and GenX-age "Boomers". Boomers are Satan's favorite useful idiots. The whole world went/is going to hell under the Boomer Reign. At least they can give us some decent tunes to suffer to. 😆

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Honestly, I like most of their albums but I'm not the biggest fan of Prequelle as a whole. It's got some solid songs but it doesn't gel as well as their other albums. I like that it is a constantly evolving project though so it keeps them interesting. I think the "spooky" imagery was more of a novelty but I do love that they write pop metal songs about Satan and are immensely popular for it. Anything to irritate conservative Christians more I say lol. As a giant BOC fan that was one of the things that drew me to Ghost honestly. My ma played a ton of BOC when I was a kid and it really stuck lol.

[@markvserik]

Pretty sure Mary Goore is a refrence to Gary Moore

[@666Violet]

Agree🤘🤘

[@MetalNeverDieswithMarkA]

Not a Ghost fan. I respect his work just not my thing. I'll check that out. Thanks Nick.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Trust me. This sounds nothing like Ghost at all. Enjoy, man!

[@destinybennett666]

Repugnant was always underappreciated. I wish Tobias was still involved with the band. I do like Ghost though.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Totally agree. He definitely captured the vibe of all that early, raw Swedish death metal that I love so much with this. As much as I do like Ghost this would be fun to resurrect at some point provided he has time for it. Ghost definitely seems to stay busy in one form or another.

[@peterock4210]

Retro reviews! Nice idea! Nick, did you check out late December release from Myspyrming? Really good.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! We've got a batch of them coming so stay tuned. I missed that one but I'll check it out when I got some free time.

[@kevinmuzerMetalMind64]

Sry dude for last night. Talked to Geoff, were cool. I wasn't saying you guys don't know anything. I was upset because the younger fans in the metal community is closing off the genre to new ppl or souring it for ilder fans. I worked in the industry too long, too hard for it to be watered down or hampered by online trolls who don't understand the background of history of us older metal head dudes who helpedvpave the way for all the cross genres today, going back to crossover, grind black and death. I'm just a veteran crew dude audio engineer. The metal musicians, a lot of my friends. I was speaking up for them. Dime and Jeff Hanneman in particular. It's a hit button topic for me. Wish they would leave Metal Alpne. Let it flourish a d survive. Welcome to All fans, no gatekeep8ng and elitism. Was ever intended for that speaking from the Old School crowd. Ask Tom Warrior from CF. All right, Sry Nick..these younger ppl just get me hot, frustrated with their actions online, what their doing with Metal. Peace, Kevin ✌ ☮ Goodwill..

[@kevinmuzerMetalMind64]

Let Metal thrive and Live! Kill the King/Rainbow. 80s metal built heavy, hard rock n roll. Let it survive in peace. 🖤

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Hey, no worries. Different strokes for different folks.

[@kevinmuzerMetalMind64]

@@thrallsofmetal Right, it's a generation gap for me I think..Carry On.

[@MRSludgedude]

I just jammed this one.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Killer album.

[@MRSludgedude]

@@thrallsofmetal it's not bad. Had no idea it was papa. I had it on before this review. Kind of crazy.

[@jamesgwarrior1981]

Didn’t he also front like a scremo or pop punk or hardcore band? 🤔 was this befor or after, this Repugnant thing??

[@daverosanoski6706]

yeah a band called Subvision

[@jamesgwarrior1981]

@@daverosanoski6706 cool thanks a lot 🙏🏾

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- This was before Subvision and Magna Carta Cartel. Tobias started off pretty damn heavy.

[@dansantosn]

Yeah, he ran Subvision during those "lost" years Repugnant was kinda in the shelf, until they brough it back in 2006, then Ghost happened.

[@jamesgwarrior1981]

@@dansantosn thx. No one gave me the name befor. Cool. Much obliged.

[@weregretohio7728]

Better than the new Ghost album, that's for sure.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I mean, are they really even comparable though?

[@dansantosn]

Can't even start to compare. Repugnant is better as a metal bad. Ghost is an ultimate pop/traditional/classic/occult/arena earworm making machine. Tobias mastered his craft in both.

[@heavymetalmusicofdestructi3430]

awesome band better than ghost repugnant even toured with marduk and archgoat in 2003

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I'd just say different than Ghost since they play drastically different music honestly.

[@heavymetalmusicofdestructi3430]

@@thrallsofmetal fair enough

[@MusicOfDestruction]

Interesting..... i hate GHOST but hey this might be worth checking out

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- This couldn't be further from Ghost if it tried to be. Pure Swedish death metal in the vein of Dismember, Entombed, Grave and Desultory.

[@FruityHachi]

you sure you hate Ghost or you just haven't listened to Opus Eponymus? I hated them when I was first introduced to them through their most popular hits, but over the time they grew on me, even those poppy songs