“Be Pure. Be Vigilant. BEHAVE!” the words of 2000AD’s Torquemada the nemesis of well, Nemesis the Warlock. Ol’ pointy hat was based on the Inquisitor of the same name and it is back to the times of Spanish Inquisition that we travel with France’s Ecclesia. Didn’t expect that did you?
Ecclesia play the kind of Doom that Candlemass made their own in the 80’s but inject a little more Euro power metal in there too and a little of Nevermore’s prog leanings as well.
The album starts cinematically with a clap of thunder, whinnying of horses, torrents of rain, chanting monks and the screams of, I am guessing heretics. So far so cliché. However, the rapid riffs of Vatican III sitting atop some high-octane church pipes blow wind up my cassock!
Arnwhald R’s vocals owe more to the style of Tony Kakko than Messiah Marcolin and they certainly go with the rip-roaring pomp and headbangery on offer here. From the down and dirty of the first track proper we are plunged into a tug of war for souls with “Ecclesia Sathani” (Church of Satan if my Greek serves me well). A clean singing man of God wrestles with a B movie sounding devil voice to a catchy as all hell 80’s metal soundtrack. More church organ and some choral arrangements this is good stuff.
This album is certainly nothing new but it offers up classic heavy metal with a Hammer horror wadrobe .
There a few stand out tracks that rise their heads above the ducking stool. “Behold the Heretics Burning” is a right foot stomper with an extremely dirty stoner riff pulsating that gets disturbed slightly by a daft spoken passage. The riff is good enough to forgive the sinners though.
Could it even be an album about heretics without Vincent Price portraying East Anglians most notorious son (apart from Dani Filth) Matthew Hopkins? So here is the bastard misogynist on “God’s Trial” with a big ol’ Sabbath riff and more tinkling of the organ . Unfortunately the instrument of the church is a little too high in the mix and buries the riff –which is a mighty fine one.
No such issues with “Burn The Witches” – the organ is knocked down to its rightful place behind this Judas Priest meets Overkill power thrash thrill ride. A mix of clean and gruff vocals suggests that things aren’t going to go well for the goodies. At least I hope not!
Ecclesia are definitely worth a look – the Sabbath worship is kept in check and there is none of the overused psychedelia that plagues a lot of the Doom world currently. Heavy on the pipe organ but a good metal romp.
(7/10 Matt Mason)
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