Twas the year 1997 and two Polish gents decided to make a band… fast forward to 1999 and they record their first demo ‘Mirrormaze’. In 2001 the second demo ‘Die in Torment 666’. Then in 2002 a split CD called ‘Death Monsters’ released by Time before Time Records with Azarath. Then in 2004 they finally release their first album ‘Satanas El Grande’ meaning (if you didn’t guess) ‘The Great Satan’. Two years pass and they have a band change with a new bassist and drummer. Another album released in 2007 ‘Manifesto Del Blasfemia’ . This leads to the ‘Death Attack Tour’ with Azarath. In 2008 ‘Esta Rebelión Es Eterna’ was unleashed with five original songs and four covers of their genre, and then in 2010 ‘Dzień Noc’ is released. Of course now, I have ‘Los Asesinos Del Sur’ to listen tom the newest bit of blackness to come from Stillborn…
A fantastic intro with the war sirens going off heralds the first track ‘Overture .966.” It’s a well used trick by plenty of bands but still strikes as impressive. The vocals are pretty cool. Think Lemmy in a few years when all the partying has caught up with him. The deep riffs are insane and move onto some brutal drumming that would give even the bulkiest wanker arm ache! In all seriousness though this is a cracking track just a shame it’s only just over a minute long. ‘Hymn of Destruction” carries off the first track without stopping, so obviously it sounds similar. However, the vocals are much more punk on this one and I’m not quite sure if they are babbling on in English due to its black metalness. ‘Diamonds of the Last Water’ sounds like someone spewing up a whole lot of grimness and trying to talk at the same time… class!. The vocal dual toward the middle section with black and punk is quite impressive, following on to a deranged mix of everything and ending on a high blast!
Try ‘Son of the Holy Motherfucker’ on for size! This one reminds me a lot of Behemoth with its melodic parts and the one minute jamming outro to the track is just nuts and all over the place, well done!
An army style intro to ‘Blood and Dust’ which is one of the longest tracks on the album. A mere 4:07. Thinking ok, this is an instrumental until it shocks the shit out of you at 2:40 with the most mental even satanic style vocals… aaaarghhhh!! *throws the horns* Added into the mentalness is a quality little solo at the end.
Moving onto the album titled track ‘Los Asesinos Del Sur’. Quite a slap in the face, this track is absolutely splendid and if any black metal fan listens to this and thinks otherwise, well, they just aren’t metal! The drumming, the guitar riffs, the deep bass… along with the dark vocals…. just astonishing! And the solo… wow….. It’s eerie, especially with the vocals over it. The fire burning outro is perfect….. Think burning churches … yay!
‘Stillborn II’ is more mental than the rest… it’s definitely a black metal Sepultura on this one… you can hear Roots Bloody Roots! No seriously!
Last but not least, ending with ‘Whore of the Whores’ with (and they will hate me for this) an Amon Amarth style drumming effect. However, there’s no sign of battle metal here with the sick vocals and drumming at the speed of light.
An amazing album, really impressed, the production work is super. When the cd was sent to me I was quite luxurious. A matt black case, a double sided piece of paper with info on it (we’re talking quality paper here guys) with a flyer for the album too. Mucho good!
(8/10 Charlene Rance)
20/10/2012 at 8:53 am
Stillborn kicks fucking ass. They are the one of best band in Poland. Good Review. Cheers!