2
years of silence after the "Death from Above" EP for
the Swedish Downfall records and the Italian whipping demons are bloodthirstily
back to excel themselves brutality-, songwriting- and skill-wise, availing
themselves of a massive recording and mixing by the clever Paso at his
Fear Studios in Alfonsine.
The matrix's still raw fast Black metal, yet they've increased the breaks
bridging other Black final assaults like in "Beating Violence"
or very brutal death guitar riffs as in "Risen from Abuse",
or heavy crushing ones like in "Hierarch in Lust".
Handful of Hate define it Carnal Black metal, but the truth is that
their style is like a mix amongst Marduk, Dark Funeral, Enthroned and
the almighty defunct Angelcorpse.
And don't expect all songs to do more than 100 Mph, since you can find
excellent breaks but also an excellent and majestic, glacially diabolical
mid-tempo-song called "Boldly Erected", whereas "Catharsis
in Punishment" successfully takes from thrash, death and black
evenly.
This band is SERIOUSLY one of the best METAL bands ever bred on Italian
soil and I think the far-seeing Code666's stricken a bargain by having'em
signed. If you don't buy this record, you're a jerk who can't recognize
really worthy metal bands and therefore simply deserve annihilation.
MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 16/11/03
