BAPHOMET: THE DEAD SHALL INHERIT
The Metal world in 1992 is almost impossible to imagine now, as the bustling scene of today ever continues to rapidly expand and evolve, year after year and band after band. In 1992, the underground Death-Metal scene was beginning to crawl it's way out of the dirt and spew forth into view of the wider Metal world, as heavyweights like; Death, Obituary and Morbid Angel were rising and quickly amassing large, dedicated followings. Thrash-Metal was ever increasingly turning a worrying shade of boring, leaving a huge population of extremity hungry Metalheads feeling lost and confused, many of whom turned to the murky wastelands of Death-Metal to revive their faith and feed their needs for heavy, hard and fast music. By 1992, the Death-Metal underground was alive and kicking, and beginning to show signs of venturing into even more extreme territories, as pioneers like, Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation, pushed the boundaries even further still, with greater intensity, deeper guttural vocals, gore and horror themes, and of course, crunchier, filthier riffs. 
The previously mentioned artists clearly grew massively in popularity, thanks to a mixture of devoted underground followings, creating amazing music and drawing mainstream Metal attention, while others, such as Baphomet, made a huge impact on the scene with legendary releases, although ultimately were unable to reach the heights of many of their peers. That said, Baphomet's 1992 full-length, The Dead Shall Inherit, is an underground classic, which could arguably be accredited with spearheading the rise of the Brutal Death-Metal scene, as well as inspiring countless other artists, with an album that was so massively influential and ahead of it's time.
Even now, The Dead Shall Inherit packs a serious punch, you need only hear the opening blows of the first track, "The Suffering", to know that this album is something special and clearly very different for the time. With intoxicating groove, walls of chugging riffs, rumbling bass and blasting drums, it bears all the hallmarks of pure Death-Metal. "Through Deviant Eyes" has an air of Suffocation-esque intensity about it, emanating from the rhythmic, slide style riffing, that would later come to define the Slam and Brutal Death-Metal scenes, which is apparent and reoccurring throughout the album. "Leave The Flesh" follows with waves of stomping brutality, before "Valley Of The Dead" smashes into view with a streamlined, merciless assault of Thrashing riffage, intense speed and bass clang.
The influence of the wider Death-Metal scene is clear on the superb, "Torn Soul", which is vocally and musically very reminiscent of the work being produced by Cannibal Corpse at the time. That said, the resemblance dose not detract from the fact that this standout track is nothing short of genius. "Vile Reminiscence" is a short, sharp shock of speed and savagery, containing some of the best riffs of the album, coupled with interesting changes of pace and grinding, blasting drumming. The menacing, upbeat galloping stomp of "Boiled In Blood" is masterful and encapsulating, showing the diversity and brilliance of Baphomet's music and the elements incorporated within their sound. The melodic chugging and blasting drum work of "Age Of Plagues" again reeks highly of style of brutality that legions of extreme bands would try to emulate throughout the following decades. "Infection Of Death" is packed full of hammering heaviness, punching riffs and impressing guttural vocals, as well as frequent forays into Grind-core style furious fast sections. Closing track, "Streaks Of Blood" opens with sinister keyboard notes, before waves of immense, filthy riffs and slamming groove sections crush your overjoyed ears.
Although there is very little, or at most, minimal technicality evident on, The Dead Shall Inherit, there is no lack of originality or brilliant musicianship. The slamming stomp of the sliding riffs that would go on to define bands like, Dying Fetus, and the thrashing, intense fast sections that comprise the album, result in the very unique feel and sound of the music as a whole. There is no doubt that over 25 years later, The Dead Shall Inherit has lost none of it's personal magic, as it sounds as putrid and refreshing as it must have done when it was first unleashed upon the unsuspecting scene of the early 1990's. Without ,The Dead Shall Inherit, and without Baphomet, there is no denying that Brutal and old-school Death-Metal would still have come into being, however, without this underground classic, the scene would not have grown and developed so rapidly into the beast we know and love today.
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