Vengeance Rising vs. Roger Rising

I've been playing a lot of Vengeance Rising lately. In fact I just made a new playlist on my phone titled "Good Versus Evil" where I put my favorite VR songs and my favorite Venom songs on a playlist together. I've noticed that I really like the last two albums from Vengeance (Roger) Rising much more than the first two. Am I crazy? Everywhere and everything I've read seems to put the first two albums as much better and the true classics.

All four albums have their strengths and weaknesses... but I usually always tend to go for the last two (and occasionally Once Dead).

I've always loved all four VR and Released Upon The Earth is criminally underrated.

There are hit and miss songs on all 4 of those albums in my opinion. I hold Human Sacrifice in high regards though because the impact it had in metal period and how that album spoke to me. Once Dead was really good but it was different to Human Sacrifice. I was expecting HS part 2!! But I still like it. Destruction Comes is quite bland but there are a few stand-out tracks on it. I liked when he started growling but HATED his whiney ass voice on some of the other tracks. Released Upon the Earth had some really great songs but I would say half of them sucked. Just my opinion though.

Good call on the Venom!!!

I have not listened to VR in so long, I'd have to revisit it all to have any base for comparison.

Listened to some the other day, and then did the 2 Die Happy things afterwards.

I thought the two most recent ones were the strongest.

Released Upon the Earth is my favorite VR album and it has my all time favorite VR song, Tion!

I think his voice was at best in that album too. I've always loved Among the Dead in Once Dead because you could hear his actual voice and his style in Released Upon the Earth kinda combined that with harsher vocals in some songs.

I've always liked the Destruction Comes album. It's probably my favorite. The only downside is the rhythm guitar tone...
I used to listen to the cassette back in the day while playing Sega Genesis. And the drums are off the hook! I really liked Chris Hyde's high energy performance. I like the drums to sound natural with minimal effects and production.

Yeah, Chris Hyde was really great.

Listened to the 3rd and 4th VR today on Spotify...could only get about halfway through both....so boring.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Listened to the 3rd and 4th VR today on Spotify...could only get about halfway through both....so boring.

I'm surprised you say that considering your recent praise for a repetitive one trick pony band like Deicide. At least Roger switched up his vocals.

The first two are classic. I like a few songs off the Roger Rising albums.Once Dead will always be my favorite VR album.They were tight on that one.Love the crunch on it.

Thrasher73 wrote:

The first two are classic. I like a few songs off the Roger Rising albums.Once Dead will always be my favorite VR album.They were tight on that one.Love the crunch on it.

Yep. It had some classic crunch tone!

Troublezone wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Listened to the 3rd and 4th VR today on Spotify...could only get about halfway through both....so boring.

I'm surprised you say that considering your recent praise for a repetitive one trick pony band like Deicide. At least Roger switched up his vocals.

If by "one-trick" you mean dynamics, clever arrangements and energy, then yeah.

Those VR songs rode the same couple riffs into the ground. The two before them were so much better.

Deicide are FAR better than VR ever were. No contest.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Listened to the 3rd and 4th VR today on Spotify...could only get about halfway through both....so boring.

I'm surprised you say that considering your recent praise for a repetitive one trick pony band like Deicide. At least Roger switched up his vocals.

If by "one-trick" you mean dynamics, clever arrangements and energy, then yeah.

Those VR songs rode the same couple riffs into the ground. The two before them were so much better.

I guess we hear Deicide differently... to me, they are run of the mill Florida death metal. When I use the term dynamic, I think of Death's Human album or Covenant era Morbid Angel.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Deicide are FAR better than VR ever were.  No contest.

I wasn't trying to compare them. I was just curious about his opinion that VR's last two albums are boring. Plus VR were not death metal. They just dabbled with it on Released Upon the Earth.

Troublezone wrote:

I guess we hear Deicide differently... to me, they are run of the mill Florida death metal. When I use the term dynamic, I think of Death's Human album or Covenant era Morbid Angel.

I prefer those over Deicide as well.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Those VR songs rode the same couple riffs into the ground.

As much as I love both of those albums I have to say you could take quite a few songs from those albums and make them into an EP titled "Identical First 5 Seconds Compilation"