Alchemist - Jar of Kingdom Lethal
Jeremy Sheaffe - Hot Metal Magazine Issue #51 May 93

Jar of Kingdom is without doubt an innovative yet brutal album of extreme heaviness. It is possibly the most innovative album I’ve ever heard. Alchemist have worked the basic rudiments of “death” metal into an above average and pummelling sound. But it’s their complete command of the ability to fuck with your mind that puts Jar of Kingdom into the highest echelons of extremity. To hear a band segue easily and beautifully from a Carcass type grind into an operatic, morbid female vocal line then into a classic hard-core tempo is magic. To feel the power and sheer balls that fuel this record is outstanding. To laugh at the surreal twists the songs take is mind-blowing. And then to hear the intricacy with which these songs are constructed is magic too. Do not listen to this thing only once. Do not listen to it as just a death metal record, for it is much more than that. Do listen to Jar of Kingdom as a work that needs your full attention because it’ll leave you amazed. Mouth agape and brain churned. It’ll leave you terrified and I’ll leave you feeling like you’ve had the best drugs around.

Jeremy Sheaffe - Hot Metal.