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TAKER
It Is Finished – The Complete Anthology

Roxx (2014)
Rating: 5/10

Virginia’s Taker may not have been the name on everyone’s lips back in the 1980s metal scene, but during that time they released two solid demo cassette EPs – the first, dubbed Mathew 11:12, in 1987, and Blood in 1989 – and appeared on a couple of Christian metal compilation albums. Sadly, 1989 would be the last time that Taker would release anything before parting ways.

However, Taker is now back with It Is Finished, a 14-track anthology album featuring remastered material from the aforementioned releases, plus a couple of re-recorded songs.

It’s fair to say that Christian metal bands never got the credit they deserved all those years ago, and yet the likes of Bloodgood and Believer are up there with my favourite bands. Taker, I have to admit, slipped under my radar all those years ago, with only the song ‘Open Your Heart’ passing by my ears.

‘Open Your Heart’ actually opens up the record, and features some nice variations as the band mix traditional metal with gothic strains and then heavier moments. Admittedly, Kevin Potter’s vocals can be a mixed bag at times, one moment ushering themselves in with a rather cheesy whisper, the next going for a full throttle power metal-styled wail. ‘Open Your Heart’ exhibits the inconsistent nature of not just Potter but the band in general, though it’s still a half-decent track featuring a tidy bass from Dan Wilkinson and sterling guitar work courtesy of Robert Bussey.

Next up is ‘He Is The Light’, which comes in via a nice solo before the band begin their journey into the land of plod. ‘Yesterday, Today And Forever’ and ‘11 O’Clock News’ complete the quartet of tracks from the band’s 1987 debut demo, with the latter being the pick of the two featuring a deadly riff and weighty drum crash from Charlie Osterhoudt.

‘Look Into His Eyes’ is another rollicking number and first appeared on the 1988 White Metal Invasion compilation album, but the tracks which intrigued me more than any other are the November 1987 re-recordings of ‘He Is The Light’ and ‘Open Your Heart’. The pair benefit from the tweaks made in the production, enabling Kevin Potter’s vocals to be delivered with more attitude and the drums to rage harder.

It’s still debatable as to whether Taker’s material has stood the test of time, but throughout this album there is that nostalgic feel with that basement type quality to most of the recordings. When the band are good the riffs and the percussion are solid, but when they are bad the songs really do suffer.

This is apparent on the rather tragic warble of ‘The Measure’, which kicks off the batch of songs from the 1989 Blood demo EP featuring singer Rob Kreiner. Vocally, this really is poor as Kreiner rarely manages to keep in tune over the able guitars, which seem lost in the mix. ‘Blood’ features a nice intro of sweet acoustic guitar and Kreiner’s gothic murmur, and the riff is executed well which enables this to be the best track from the demo. However, ‘Overcomer’s Anthem’ and ‘Into the Throneroom / A New Song’ come across as rather bog-standard metal belches that lack bite, and suffer from the agonising vocals which only seem to work when they are delivered at high pitch.

The two Taker songs featured on the 1989 East Coast Metal compilation – ‘Living By Faith’ and a re-recorded version of ‘Yesterday, Today And Forever’ – are also included. While there is also a live rehearsal recording of ‘Living By Faith’ from 1987 featuring Mike Miley on drums.

It Is Finished is a great way of collating all of Taker’s obscure recordings, and it’s vital that bands of this ilk that were so fleeting are able to be remembered in this way, but musically this forgotten combo rarely provide a light in the darkness.

Neil Arnold

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