Arriving like a purulent belch this sophomore effort by this Swedish band is unshackled to the confines of ideological genre parameters as they gouge open black metal with corrosive hardcore elements and deluging sludge passages. Opening the release is the malevolent “Swinelord” a rampaging tune packed with obsidian hate matched by a vocal performance that is utterly terrifying. Devoid of compassion and inhumanly relentless the tune opens up a whole new sub-genre that few will dare to enter and those brave enough to sample its grotesque delights do so with tantamount dread and apprehension. The album continues with “New Temples” a scathing assault of ferocious and callous blackened cacophony as the band flails around rabidly with rancorous malfeasance as touches of hardcore embed into the tune like razor wire on skin.
The opening doublet of this album serves as warning as it shifts with the arrival of “Rites” a spasmodic song that possesses unmitigated spite but schizophrenically switches half way in to a style more akin to post rock or metal. The middle section of this release slows things down dramatically but manages to conjure up nightmarish sonic creepiness with a post hardcore guise and some female vocals that work extremely well on “XI For I Am The Fire”. Sneering maniacally the tune pulses with vitriol until the cavernous tempo drop into a much softer post rock approach. The drum start to “Hanging Fest” sounds like the march to your own execution as a slow crushing sludge dirge is exhibited with screamed vocals.
“Old Lies” begins with a shriek that is as spiteful as anything I’ve heard this year and matches the bruising wrath of “We Use Your Dead As Vessels”. where the pernicious black undercurrent is bolstered by a raging torrent of spit laden malice and contrasts sharply with the closing tune “Askrådare” which begins very serenely with background noises that gradually intensify ready for a sludge implosion. The clean vocals that drift on a percussive layer are excellent as the tune listens like a sonic chameleon flowing from one piece to the next effortlessly and with arrogant poise. I don’t normally reference every song on a release for review purposes but here the tunes are so unique that not doing so would be unjust to the band as this album stands testament at cementing various styles into one and create something extremely unique and malignant
(9/10 Martin Harris)
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