Rex Diabolic

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Ukraine’s own Roman Saenko - the visionary behind renowned black metal projects, Hate Forest and Drudkh. Roman is somewh...
22/02/2025

Ukraine’s own Roman Saenko - the visionary behind renowned black metal projects, Hate Forest and Drudkh. Roman is somewhat of an aloof eccentric, as are most brilliant artists. He does no interviews… I believe that’s because the music he creates with Drudkh and his other projects happens to be of the most meaningful kind. However, there was one period of time in particular when an interview could’ve potentially served the band well. Years ago, Roman came under fire for dedicating one of Drudkh’ tracks to Stepan Bandera - a Ukrainian Nationalist and N**i Sympathizer. Fallout within the black metal community… Not within the intelligent part of the community, but in the dumb hysterical anti-fascist part. I don’t know, seems to stand that a LOT of people in Europe were N**i sympathizers or involved with the Third Reich in some way back then. They were pretty popular… And Nationalism at its core has zero to do with racism, which is intrinsically built upon the idea of an intercultural hierarchy and one group being superior over another or all others based upon ethnicity. Whereas Nationalism is rooted in the universalist notion that advocates sovereignty and a shared moral equality among the people of a nation. Just because you support som**hing that someone else believes in, that doesn’t mean that you support EVERYTHING that person believes in. There are people who happen to be heroes of mine who have done reprehensible things, who have disagreeable opinions and who
possess vulgar character traits. That doesn’t mean that they are not still iconic, charismatic, inspirational or even in some cases cast in an Anti-Hero’s light. Jon Nƶdtveidt (Dissection) is a hero of mine and he was an accomplice to brutally murdering an innocent man for no reason… Got that or do I need to break out the crayons and construction paper?

Black metal concepts are steeped in heritage, war and history; namely of the European consortium. There are a lot of white people in Europe. A lot of these white people are proud of who they are and where they come from like everyone else. Sometimes a white black metal band out of Scandinavia for instance will write an album dedicated to the history, heritage, traditions, spiritual practices or lore of a particular region. Oh boy… Or Hell forbid he be a white black metal artist who doesn’t agree with Marxism and happens to write an album with a song or two dedicated to the idea of nationalism, because any rational human being knows that he shouldn’t do that because that’s racist! Bu****it. Roman came under fire and just went on about his business. Let the impressionable ones lose their s**t…

Drudkh’ music is som**hing that you’d never want to deprive yourself of if you love black metal. Right now, I’m listening to their as of yet unreleased new LP, ā€œShadow Playā€, and what a fu***ng gem. Another triumph out of one of the international scene’s most respected projects. If you’re like me and you’re a sucker for the notion that black metal should always be meaningful and artistically viable, then you’ll undoubtedly be a sucker for Drudkh.

I’ve talked to a couple of real deal NSBM guys. Aryanwülf to be specific, and let’s get som**hing clear, most of these dudes aren’t in the business of creating beautiful dark art for the world to behold. The guys I chatted with are simpletons with incurable tunnel vision who operate fueled on ideals formulated from stereotypes and misinformation, and their black metal is geared mainly towards the message of the music. They’re not like Drudkh, Hate Forest, Horna, Taake or Marduk whose sole focus is and always has been the realization of a respectable artistic vision for black metal. Their contrarieties’ worldview pertaining to race relations is a rather stupid idea of how things work. Love me some Nokturnal Mortum though… Drudkh - check ā€˜em out. You’re clear…

Experience ā€œThe Exileā€ from ā€œShadow Playā€ by Drudkh right here as presented by Season of Mist:

https://youtu.be/2OII3LsDjgc?si=pK0gMOBOhYZTcYjz

~Jeger

Album Review Imperial Triumphant ā€œGoldstarā€Origin: NYC, New York, USA šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø Genre: Avant-Garde / Progressive Black / Death ...
21/02/2025

Album Review
Imperial Triumphant
ā€œGoldstarā€

Origin: NYC, New York, USA šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø

Genre: Avant-Garde / Progressive Black / Death Metal

Label: Century Media Records

I do not romanticize New York City. Been there a few times and it’s dirty, smells like p**s, the people are rude and it’s always been fu***ng freezing every time I’ve had the displeasure of visiting. There are plenty of places to get w**d but I’d be too scared to try and buy anything else. I’m a DC guy. We’re tough, just not NY tough… Yes, there’s a lot of history and it speaks through faded street signs, old train tracks and through burly roughnecks in tough old Burgs. There’s the hustle and bustle of a bazillion lives scurrying the boulevards and a sense of old fashioned hometown pride that runs deeper than the oldest subways. An allure? Most definitely. You just gotta scrape through a few layers of s**t to get to it… The triumvirate, Imperial Triumphant, have made it their modus operandi to explore NYC and NYC only with their art. It’s som**hing like black metal but in a really annoying ultra-progressive avant-garde respect. Remarkably talented and way ahead of any and all curves are Imperial Triumphant. Yes, I said their music is annoying too…

Just imagine if Anaal Nathrakh took a bunch of acid and recorded an album. Maybe some m**h too… re****ed heavy and yet frantic as a fu***ng panic attack. Jeez… On March 21, Imperial Triumphant will release ā€œGoldstarā€ via Century Media. There are various parts to this album that sound good and a number of parts that do not, such as the finger-snapping intro to ā€œGomorrah Nouveauā€ and all the subsequent nonsense that ensues; this almost Riddler from Batman sort of mischievousness in riffing and flagrant bass abuse… Take it easy on ā€˜er fella, carrying over to a Meshuggah’s Tomas Haake-dominated ā€œLexington Deliriumā€. How progressive is too progressive and how much is too much when it comes to percussion. Yes, drummers have been all fu***ng uppity for a while now and Tomas here is our number one offender, but damn is the brother good. Dave Lombardo also contributes to ā€œPleasuredomeā€ alongside Haake in some kind of double-drum attack that wells into an onslaught of impossibly heavy riffs. Take in the sounds of the urban backdrop as it all fades into the foreground: the bass, the brutish Entombed-level grooves and some Gojira worship to seal the deal.

I can imagine that life in the Big Apple can be about as chaotic as what I’m hearing here. Doesn’t feel very Gotham at all through most of it aside from some various beatnik-esque visuals-inducing interludes that strike up images of lipstick and ci******es, Cutty Sark bottles and surly drunken regulars in that place on the corner. I’ve never listened to this band because I hate their image and I can honestly say I haven’t missed out on too much, aside from maybe an anxiety attack or one of those annoying behind-the-eyes headaches. ā€œGoldstarā€? I guess it sounds neat, what with all that weird s**t going on? Bordering on genius and ma********on if you ask me.

The visuals are what make ā€œGoldstarā€ so unique. You will see NYC, both from inside its historic buildings and out upon its bustling streets, but you inevitably also get jackhammered again in the head with some really overbearing and mechanically repetitive s**t. People waste their talents on the most bizarre things and sometimes you can find black metal in the most peculiar places. I’d give this one a listen because it is some very avant-garde material that’s bound to at the very least impress the hell out of you. Busting with dynamics like those DC dub bags from back in the day is ā€œGoldstarā€. Do those costumes make them really tall and big like those turtle guys in The Fifth Element? Or are they meant to just look like som**hing out of Bioshock Infinite? I’m on a roll here…

6.5/10

Experience ā€œPleasuredomeā€ feat. Tomas Haake and Dave Lombardo from the album ā€œGoldstarā€ by Imperial Triumphant right here as presented by Century Media:

https://youtu.be/cPzQ9wsYT0Q?si=mCUmncbPP68hFn-i

~Jeger

20/02/2025
Album Review Noctambulistā€œNoctambulist II: De Droomā€Origin: Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands šŸ‡³šŸ‡± Genre: Post / Atmosph...
20/02/2025

Album Review
Noctambulist
ā€œNoctambulist II: De Droomā€

Origin: Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands šŸ‡³šŸ‡±

Genre: Post / Atmospheric Black Metal

Label: These Hands Melt

To sleepwalk… A way of life for some. The Noctambulist noun can be used as a metaphor for quite a few things: blissful ignorance, one who is weary/exhausted or perhaps a deceitful individual, but it’s difficult to decipher what The Netherlands’ Noctambulist are implying with the use of the word as I do not speak Dutch. I have however been listening to a lot of post-black metal lately, and I can tell you that these Dutchmen are the cream of this particular sub-genre of black metal. Not sleepwalking, more like treading boldly through the convoluted terrain of the heart and into that sentimental sweet spot - melody-induced euphoria - a paradoxical experience considering what I’m assuming to be some less-than-joyous lyrical subject matter.

Black metal was tailor made for this sort of adaptation and it just so happens to be that post-black metal has become a form of art that I’ve grown quite fond of as of late. It’s so versatile and intelligently put together: smart and cathartic, soulful and stunning. I’ve been listening to Noctambulist’s sophomore LP as I’ve been writing this, and the vast array of influences I’m picking up is brilliant. Picking up some ā€˜90’s alternative vibes here during the intro to ā€œGevoelsmensā€, but it’s one of the tracks that I heard before this one that happens to be the most intriguing one among the lot - ā€œAderlaterā€ - third chapter in what’s been a mostly favorable experience. I don’t think they can teach this stuff. Some people are just born with an impeccable ear for melody along with an enviable ability to formulate that knack into magisterial music of their own creation. When you form a band with a few dudes in it like this, then you get stuff like the above-mentioned ā€œAderlaterā€ off of LPs like ā€œNoctambulist II: De Droomā€, released on February 7, via These Hands Melt.

Where do you begin? Okay, there are some really black metal parts and some very un-black metal parts, but even those are sublime. The intro to ā€œLichteterā€ for example. Reminiscent of som**hing like if you mashed The Church - ā€œReptileā€ together with some lost U2 B-side and followed it up with some Harakiri for the Sky worship. No matter the form in which these tropes, characters and influences come, you can rest assured that upon exploring them, they will move your soul and lift your spirit; slowly through the cloud cover and into the azure above; finding yourself in a more divine state of consciousness, but only until you become captive to the aggressive black metal stylings of ā€œDuivenbloed & Suikerā€ with its malevolent shift in aesthetic as blasts and torqued riffs ensue. Keyboards provide a little som**hing to soothe the savage beast.

Love the cover art. I’m fond of metaphor and I can see this photo representing the condition of one’s life/mind or the remembrance of a dark past now in ruins. What deeply artistic expressions and with such breathtaking music to boot? Forget about it… With ā€œNoctambulist II: De Droomā€, Noctambulist weigh fate and divvy out fulfilling portions of destiny to the sound of some of the most heartwarming musical passages you’ll ever lay your ears upon. It gets artsy, it gets dark, it gets heavy but mainly it gets epically melancholy. A soundtrack to grief or perhaps to a nervous breakdown. Maybe even a sudden understanding of a deeper meaning to life. Deep stuff indeed, but wouldn’t it have to be? Music like this can only be accompanied by deep-seated lyrical material that pertains to heartbreak or to the human condition.

To dream… Also a way of life for some. Dedication to an idea of how life should be and the foolish stubbornness to let that notion go, even as you watch it wither before you. Or even as you abandon it; seemingly oblivious to the fact that it has worn to tatters anyway. The dream is dead… Do you move on or do you linger here in this place that time has most certainly remembered and has also made sure to leave its corrosive mark upon? Life anew I think is the move. There’s hope to be found here. This album doesn’t feel like a misanthropic endeavor, more like some kind of spiritual awakening through the purity of suffering set to intelligent compositions and cathartic passages.

They say that variety is the spice of life, it’s also evidently the spice of suffering as well. I’ve never listened to such a myriad of varying influences be melded together so seamlessly into such a must listen album. Perfection from top to bottom. From tonality to aesthetic, ā€œNoctambulist II: ā€œDe Droomā€ is a genre-dominant tour de force achievement. An achievement for the band but also one for black metal. Yeah, I’m one of those true black metal curmudgeons sometimes too, but there’s a place for that and that place is not here. Here is where life’s most heart-wrenching moments converge with its most profound. May this album find you where you are now and move you the way it has moved me.

10/10

Experience ā€œNoctambulist II: De Droomā€ by Noctambulist right here:

https://youtu.be/SMTeSkXQFZo?si=2AhNScbX9UL0HVRx

~Jeger

Album Review Entombed ā€œSerpent Saints (The Ten Amendments)ā€Origin: Stockholm, Sweden šŸ‡øšŸ‡Ŗ Genre: Death Metal / Death & Rol...
18/02/2025

Album Review
Entombed
ā€œSerpent Saints (The Ten Amendments)ā€

Origin: Stockholm, Sweden šŸ‡øšŸ‡Ŗ

Genre: Death Metal / Death & Roll

Label: Candlelight Records

All time most bizarre discography? Look no further than Stockholm, Sweden’s Entombed: death metal here, death & roll over there and some weird alternative phase in the late ā€˜90’s back there that we’ll just pretend never happened… Their first two albums: ā€˜90’s ā€œLeft Hand Pathā€ and ā€˜91’s ā€œClandestineā€ are legendary; the greatest two of all their works to precede ā€œWolverine Bluesā€ and the dreaded death & roll era. In short, there was a period of time when these dudes really sounded the way High On Fire sound today. A sort of ā€œLoadā€/ā€œRe-Loadā€/ā€œSt. Angerā€ era of what-the-f**kishness, then a better-than-usual release in 2001’s ā€œMorning Starā€ and finally a return-to-a-more-solidified-DM-form final LP in ā€˜07’s ā€œSerpent Saints (The Ten Amendments)ā€, released via Candlelight Records before the formation of Entombed AD.

ā€œSerpent Saintsā€ saw Entombed in action doing some of what they always did best! All those gargantuan riffs and slamming beats, corrosive grinds and hardcore punk rhythms to pack your wanting gullet. Get ready for gout, because this is some really rich, filling and heavy duty fu***ng s**t… Asphyx-level heavy and without a shred of technical ma********on is this record. A little weird and off-putting in the lyrics department, and still steeped in death & roll; just at a faster tempo, with wailing leads and brilliant guitar work in tracks like the opening titular cut and gritty punk swagger laced riffing in the following track, ā€œMasters of Deathā€. The latter is like Candlemass meets Carcass: dooming grooves, myriads of percussive techniques and a tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole thing. I don’t understand why though. The ā€œLeft Hand Pathā€ and ā€œClandestineā€ eras of this band are so fu***ng brilliant and just true fu***ng DM to the bone. They never gave us that again. Like the aforementioned Metallica and their fans who were always yearning for ā€œMasters of Puppetsā€ 2.0 until they finally understood that the Talli boys are too old now… There’s much going on here, even some cringe Biohazard-esque obnoxiousness in ā€œAmokā€ along with all these very unpredictable but strangely fluid segments. ā€œWhen In Sodomā€ - an orgiastic and somewhat goofy experience - chock full of heavy as f**k riffs but also skewed melodic parts like fingernails down a chalkboard.

Entombed pulled no stops here as far as dynamics and engineering quality, but the lyrics are s**t and it just feels like if Avatar attempted to write a real death metal album. Most of the necessary elements are in place but there seems to be this irresistible urge throughout the band to just dick around and s**t the bed. An almost carnivalesque level of tomfoolery. What a polarizing recording. Like some two-faced abomination that rips you in two different directions at all times. It could’ve really been a special album if not for all the weird s**t.

Great for funking out to monstrous bass grooves and mammoth chopping guitar riffs. Fine for the appreciation of great engineering/mixing is ā€œSerpent Saintsā€, but outside of that, it’s a hot mess. Oh what could’ve been… Take your work a little more seriously. It’s fu***ng death metal and not a weird Marilyn Manson adaptation of fu***ng death metal: bizarre sound effects, out of place Rob Zombie-like cinematic elements and the drawing in of inspiration from too many wayward influences. Not the record you wanna be remembered for.

Entombed just kind of always did what they did, and most of us just rooted for ā€˜em, even through some s**tty albums. You respect a band who has released LPs like Entombed’ first two. You then wait around for decades in vain for another revisitation only to get this thing… I will go ahead and slap the overrated label onto this band and stand by it 100%. I guess they were smoking w**d under the bleachers during their lesson on the importance of integrity and consistency. But nonetheless, Entombed will always be known for their early ā€˜90’s gems; even ā€œWolverine Bluesā€, which isn’t so bad. Entombed is still listed as an active band despite the ā€˜21 passing of its longtime frontman LG Petrov.

6/10

Experience ā€œSerpent Saints (The Ten Amendments)ā€ by Entombed right here:

https://youtu.be/LwXlca369FM?si=f1_VsW-9IcFQ-weH

~Jeger

Dissection began as a mere outlet for the exploration of the darkness as realized through their first two albums: ā€˜93’s ...
18/02/2025

Dissection began as a mere outlet for the exploration of the darkness as realized through their first two albums: ā€˜93’s ā€œThe Somberlainā€ and ā€˜95’s ā€œStorm of the Light’s Baneā€. The former was dedicated to the memory of Mayhem’s Euronymous and the latter would serve as Dissection’s final release before frontman, Jon Nƶdtveidt, began to immerse himself in the occult practices of the MLO (Misanthropic Luciferian Order, now known as Temple of the Black Light).

In 1998, Jon was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of an Algerian National by the name of Josef ben Meddour. No motive was ever found for this murder. Upon Jon’s release from prison in 2004, he reimagined Dissection as more of a conduit for Satanic energy as opposed to a simple artistic endeavor. He had grown in the order as a High Priest of Satan, so naturally his art was a reflection of this profound esoteric maturation. Jon was passionate about his craft in every way a man can be: musician, journalist and champion of the notion that black metal is the most precious dark art. For Dissection, one last record had to be made; one with formulas and incantations linked to the Eleven Anti-Cosmic Deities - a vision of the unraveling of the great cosmic illusion, the destruction of cosmic order and the taking on of the formless spirit.

In 2006, Jon Nƶdtveidt’s body was found in his apartment in Sweden. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A copy of Liber Azarate and a note to his father were found by him. Jon once described death as the or**sm of life. Live hard! Live with passion and blow your load like a gunshot… To forego the inglorious process of growing old and to go out at your peak of strength was the idea. For Jon, death was but a second chapter and one that he took on with unmatched bravery. Tragic? For his family members I’m sure, but not for those who understood Jon and why he did what he did. The greatest tragedy being the reality of the fact that there will never be another Dissection or another Nƶdtveidt - the most brilliant black metal band and the most remarkably talented guitarist and songwriter the BM world has ever produced.

I was talking with someone years ago who knew Jon and he described him as someone who lived life with the enthusiasm of a child, as someone who valued his spiritual beliefs over all else and as someone who never pushed his beliefs onto others, as that is definitely not the occult way. Did Jon just lose himself in a bunch of spiritual mumbo-jumbo? Doubtful. Having interviewed esoteric black metal collectives such as Thy Darkened Shade, Serpent Noir and Yoth Iria, I can tell you that there’s som**hing to this stuff or people wouldn’t be dedicating their lives to it. Any true believers out there? Dissection - the greatest of all time despite having only released a few records. Rest in chaos old friend…

Experience ā€œGod of Forbidden Lightā€ from ā€œReinkaosā€ right here:

https://youtu.be/kfAocI1lgo0?si=lJjK30LRm2P8hg5I

~Jeger

Choice CutsAsphyxā€œThe Grand Denialā€
17/02/2025

Choice Cuts
Asphyx
ā€œThe Grand Denialā€

Provided to YouTube by Century MediaThe Grand Denial Ā· AsphyxIncoming Deathā„— 2016 Century Media Records Ltd.Released on: 2016-09-30Composer: Paul BaayensLyri...

Album Review Hersirā€œHateful Draugar From the Undergroundā€Origin: Gothenburg, VƤstra Gƶtaland, Sweden šŸ‡øšŸ‡Ŗ Genre: Pagan / F...
17/02/2025

Album Review
Hersir
ā€œHateful Draugar From the Undergroundā€

Origin: Gothenburg, VƤstra Gƶtaland, Sweden šŸ‡øšŸ‡Ŗ

Genre: Pagan / Folk Black Metal

Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions

Life is about the dark side of things too. Very much about them in fact. Some people choose to run from the shadows and live in a state of re****ed bliss their whole lives without even a shred of courage or a sliver of personal growth. To confront the shadows is the black metal way: to face death, grief, sorrow, hatred and to traverse dark spiritual pathways through the occult into the realm of truth and enlightenment. Enlightenment cannot come unless the shadow self is recognized and respected.

Sweden’s Hersir is a no bulls**t black metal band. You won’t find any gimmicks or anything pretentious within the scope of their music, only olde Norse melodies, driving cadences, textbook BM distortion and transcendent energy. They’ve released three demos thus far with their debut LP, ā€œHateful Draugar From the Undergroundā€, looming just over the horizon and set for a March 28 release via Darkness Shall Rise.

It’s definitely not low-fi but it’s definitely not polished either. Somewhere between where the old-school and contemporary scenes meet is where you’ll discover this record’s unorthodox quality in product. Everything is at surface level, which conveys a most urgent vibe throughout the duration. Keyboards, almost tribal rhythms and chants to mystify you upon your journey through Hel’s underworld. I just wish that the lead guitar was more audible so as to really give the album’s melodic parts some extra impact. The drums belong a bit further back in the mix and the vocals? Lost in the sauce… But the barely decipherable folk melodies deliver a nice earthy feel. Heavy Emperor vibes during ā€œThe Fiddlerā€, some Behexen-like aggression during ā€œHolocaust Winterā€ and some Svarttjern type chaotic grime during ā€œPurification by Fireā€ make for an unpredictable but altogether familiar black metal experience.

ā€œHateful Draugar From the Undergroundā€ could’ve been a lot more special if it was not for such questionable engineering, but questionable engineering is the black metal way! So deal with it, sucker… Anyway, a conceptually brilliant piece that truly captures the right energy is HDOTU. We’re transcending fear into the world of decay and despair where most souls dare not! The Shadow Side of existence, the yang as it were. Becoming accustomed to the agony just enough to understand its purpose and to accept it as inevitable; resulting in a deeper appreciation of the light. Olde Sverige tradition-infused folk black metal - a journey of a recording with a stunning closing track in ā€œDivinations at the Old Springsā€ to culminate the excursion. Feel the dungeons quake to the awakening of the hate-mongering Draugar!

One fact remains starkly clear and that is the concrete truth that Hersir is a true black metal band. As I mentioned before: no gimmicks, no artsy-fartsy embellishments and no bulls**t, just real Pagan-inspired BM that hits on both brutal and majestic fronts. Is everybody in? The great confrontation is about to begin! Mask yourself for the tortuous task at hand… ā€œHateful Draugar From the Undergroundā€ - a strong effort and an impactful debut from one of the Sverige underground’s many promising upstarts. Here’s to the balancing of the light and of the shadow, to enlightenment and to resilience.

7.5/10

Experience the titular track to ā€œHateful Draugar From the Underground right here:

https://youtu.be/-mYfXM6sg_Q?si=8d-seSJuRuz5I-mh

~Jeger

Classic ReviewAsphyxā€œThe Rackā€Origin: Oldenzaal, Overijssel, Netherlands šŸ‡³šŸ‡± Genre: Death DoomLabel: Century Media Record...
17/02/2025

Classic Review
Asphyx
ā€œThe Rackā€

Origin: Oldenzaal, Overijssel, Netherlands šŸ‡³šŸ‡±

Genre: Death Doom

Label: Century Media Records

Death metal in the early 1990’s was at its apex of artistry. Bands like Carcass, Cannibal Co**se, Deicide and Asphyx were releasing albums that not only exuded shock value, but much else could be said about the genre’s integrity: quality artwork, rich & textured engineering and pure fu***ng attitude. Lock up your children! Every mother’s worst nightmare. Music to turn their beloved little bastards into psychopaths and serial murderers. There was this palpable sense of dread associated with the music that not even the nastiest of thrash or heavy metal bands were capable of conveying. Death metal today? Commercial fodder for the most part with embarrassments such as Cattle Decapitation and Aborted to represent what used to be som**hing genuine, som**hing pure.

The Netherlands’ Asphyx began their journey in 1987, and from 1988 to 1989, they released three demos with vocalists, Christian Colli, and then Theo Loomans (R.I.P. 1998) before ex-Pestilence vocalist, Martin van Drunen, joined the ranks in 1991. Following the release of a split and then another demo, Asphyx unleashed their widely-praised debut LP, ā€œThe Rackā€, via what was then a somewhat obscure extreme metal label in Century Media Records.

Asphyx was a unique entity compared to the traditional death metal acts of that era. Their propensity for recording at a slower, more riff-laden pace set them apart from the more technical/faster tempo’d bands mentioned above. Death doom! A brutal synergy of death and doom metals that when combined with Martin’s primitive vocal stylings, provided the listener with a most joyous headbanging experience, and not much has changed with Asphyx, because fans just can’t get enough of those torqued grooves and cranium-crushing riffs. ā€œThe Rackā€ is chock full of these. An album way ahead of its time. It could be released today and osmose its way right in with the current DM climate. I only wish contemporary DM bands had the balls to record in analog again. All this digital s**t is like poison to my ears, not to mention the abominable AI artwork and classless gaudy technicality. Albums like ā€œThe Rackā€ just hit this old head’s proverbial sweet spot.

Nothing technical and nothing flashy to be found here, only the birth of a little som**hing known as brutality. Inspiration to bands like Suffocation and Dying Fetus who took this very sound and sped it up, refined it a bit and added a little tasteful technicality to the mix; resulting in classics like ā€œEffigy of the Forgottenā€ and ā€œKilling on Adrenalineā€. Even the faster-paced tracks on the album like ā€œVerminā€ and ā€œWasteland of Terrorā€ hit like a Louisville Slugger to the ribcage, but the shred is always short-lived as dragging-a-wet-corpse through the mud passages eventually unfold to the wailing agony of Martin’s misery-drenched vocal contribution. Like an even heavier version of Obituary’s ā€œCause of Deathā€ LP is ā€œThe Rackā€ - an impossibly savage feat - a show of overwhelming force. Definitely not your typical Floridian death metal. ā€œThe Sickening Dwellā€ - a doom-hearty bruiser that transitions from a dreadfully slow intro into a mid-tempo’d riff clinic: bass roars, guitar screams and tasty galloping progressions. Nine tracks 37 minutes worth of untamed savagery done the Dutch way, death the brutal way and a foreshadowing of a most glorious future of stunning LP releases from Asphyx that would begin and eventually rekindle with Martin van Drunen - one of the elite DM vocalists of our time.

The early 1990’s - a classic era in death metal recording forlorn to the modern age. It will never get that good again. There are underground bands who emulate this old-school approach, but it’s just not the same. Valiant efforts! But naturally, a falling short of former glory when bands like Asphyx dominated the scene. The glory days of the second wave of black metal will never again be realized and never too shall the golden age of death metal be repeated. And when it comes to simple brutality, no one does it better than Asphyx. Underrated even as they stand among the titans of the international scene. Not… one… bad… record…

8.5/10

Experience ā€œVerminā€ from ā€œThe Rackā€ by Asphyx right here:

https://youtu.be/sbvGwU6znZg?si=Ez77J5scBvznc4Xc

~Jeger

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Website

http://metalourgio.com/, http://metalbite.com/, http://thisisblackmetal.com/

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