Nuclear War Now! is proud to present this long-overdue reissue of Phantasm's "Keeper of Death" as part of its Eastern Bloc Obscurities Series, thus making it available on vinyl for the first time since its original release on the Russian Disc label in 1993. As with other installments in this series, "Keeper of Death" has been widely underappreciated in the thirty years since its inception, largely due to geopolitical factors that made Russian music more inaccessible to Western cultures of the time. Without knowledge of this context, however, Phantasm and its sole full-length album would likely be mistaken by many to be a product of the Tampa, Florida area death metal scene of the time. Everything from a cursory inspection of the cover art and band logo to the copious amounts of death metal riffs, leads, and growls might lead to this conclusion. As such, this reissue is likely to peak the interest of any Obituary and early Brutality fans, in particular, who clamor for more recordings of a similar ilk. - C. Conrad
