One of metal's strangest and most unique bands, Confessor are the definition of "acquired taste", a bizarre blend of ultra-complex doom metal, the weird high-pitched caterwauling of singer Scott Jeffreys, a battalion of twisted riff algorithms, the mind-melting drum patterns and bizarro rhythms, and labyrinthine songwriting that was heavily influenced by the band's appreciation for prog rock but went spinning off into an utterly idiosyncratic direction that has sounded like no other band before or since. From the beginning, the guys in Confessor cited the classic American doom metal of Trouble as one of their main influences, but listening to their earliest recordings, it's hard not to imagine these guys also listening to a crapload of prog rock when they were first developing their sound. Confessor released just one album Condemned on Earache in the early 90s before breaking up, a masterwork of imaginative math-doom that was described at the time as a cross between the morose crushing doom of Trouble and the complex angular prog-metal of Watchtower, and it would become one of the most argued-about albums in extreme metal (not to mention highly influential on a new generation of werdoes to follow).

Not as well known are Confessor's pre-Condemned demos, recorded and released between 1988 and 1990 and featuring most of the songs that would appear on their debut Lp; these earlier recordings are considered by some to be the best versions of these songs, slightly rougher and less polished than the album versions but still heavy as hell and well produced (courtesy of recording engineer Dick Hodgin, who was also responsible for one of my favorite Corrosion of Conformity records, Technocracy). There were also some songs found on these demo releases that didn't appear anywhere else, making 'em highly sought after by Confessor fans. All of this stuff has finally been collected into the new Uncontrolled CD/DVD set from metal-archive label Dive Bomb, and includes the 1990 Collapse demo, the 1989 Uncontrolled demo, 1988's The Secret demo, the alternate version of "Uncontrolled" that appeared on the 1990 Peaceville compilation Vile Vibes and the stomping version of "The Secret" that appeared on Metal Blade's Metal Massacre X that same year, and a couple of live tracks that have a pretty decent recording quality. Anyone who loved Confessor's Earache debut would dig the rare songs that are featured here, and all of this stuff is doom-prog wildness: dissonant riffs and odd chord structures will suddenly reform and lock into a pulverizing groove, the sound of classic doom metal being twisted and bent into extreme angles and geometric deformities, and all with those crazed wailing vocals.

In addition to the demo recordings, this set also features a ton of live video compiled on the Dvd; there's some amazing early footage of Confessor in here that includes live sets on the band's home turf in Raleigh, NC from 1987, 1993 and 2004, and best of all, footage of Confessor playing a set at a Houston, TX waterpark in 1988 that shows them playing their insane technical avant-doom on a stage overseeing families hanging out in lounge chairs and playing in the wave pool.

Includes a thick booklet with fliers, photos and extensive new liner notes written by Jeff Wagner (Mean Deviation).