During the late '80s and early '90s alot of American death metal bands sounded the same, bolstered by the production of Morrisound Studios, a time when the scene was saturated with similar sounding bands, meaning that anything worthy usually became lost in the sea of imitation. Nocturnus are best listened to now, instead of back then. Despite the usual death metal trademarks, and the fact that the band somehow managed to look bloody awful on the inner sleeve in comparison to most of the other bands. Also, the keyboards peppering the record originally didn't make for good listening, but a few decades later 'The Key' has stood the test of time, a raging slab of a record akin to a more cosmic Morbid Angel, kickstarted by the horror synth opening and chug-a-go-go of 'Lake Of Fire' which is Slayer with a UFO sound effect as the riffs break through, all the while laced with a strange buzzing from the keys. This pretty much sums up 'The Key' a reasonably heavy death metal record from another Florida-based band, but with some decent effects to smother the blandness. Drummer and vocalist Browning is reasonably hectic over the guitar twiddlings of McNenney and Davis, and the complex structures certainly make the album far more interesting than a majority of bands from the time. Unfortunately hidden behind a rather dour cover, 'The Key' still rises above mediocrity.
7/10
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