The cover has a black and white drawing of a demon wielding a chainsaw. Before you even get to band name and title if that alone doesn’t help you narrow this down to sub-genre never mind genre then you’re probably on the wrong website. Yes this is as raw and bestial a mass of black metal as was ever vomited up from the pit. And if that doesn’t sound like potentially a good thing then you’re still on the wrong website.
Provocator are the new expression of one Hellscream from Bleeding Fist and this one guy really has produced a nasty, focused piece of bile. One thing I have to say though is that I hope our review copy wasn’t the finished article. No I’m not going to tell you the production is shit; it’s as thick, cloying and dark as this racket needs. It’s the mastering. The sound levels are all over the place. You crank up the volume on one track to get the bite right and the next track blows the speakers out. So down you turn it agrees the next song is whispering. Annoying.
Anyway, enough tech, what about the racket?
Frankly? It is absolutely spot on. After the couple of seconds intro, ‘Unholy Rape Of The Holy Whore’ drives a black encrusted road drill right through your chest. The sound is vile, up-tempo driving riffs with deep growled and murmured vocals and wailing backing cries. Primitive, nasty stuff akin to Sarcofago and a speeding Teitanblood swimming through tar. It really it’s just as this stuff should be. ‘7 Storms Of Eternal Damnation’ follows up with a thick, rhythmic swirl, adding in some one sound barks that kind of remind me of old Ministry as the Celtic Frost wails and Teitanblood insane rambling growls circle around. Primitive yes but there is so much going on too between the twisting guitar leads, the varied vocals, the driving rhythm and the buzzing riffs. Eight tracks in under half an hour doesn’t leave any time for this to get stale; it simply surges in, desecrates and flows out leaving a black, sticky mess behind. Songs such as ‘Profanation Of The Cross’ or ‘Black Star Of Lucifer’ may not be going anywhere new but they sure as hell have atmosphere and attitude by the pitchfork full. They shift tempos, swaying and then driving straight ahead life a writhing serpent going for the throat. Not a second or a beat is wasted and with the vision to vary the assault and direction if not the intensity Provocator really raise their head above the mundane. It’s kind of like watching the swaying head of a giant cobra, knowing that the strike is inevitable, that it will pulverise but not having a clue where it will strike and being unable to look away.
If you don’t ‘get’ this kind of black metal then Provocator are not going to change your mind, but if you do this is the best of its kind I’ve heard all year. Thick, black, bestial, primitive and mesmerising.
(8.5/10 Gizmo)
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