Both the last album, ‘Anger Mismanagement’ and their last release, an EP titled ‘Capital Punisher’ were textbook demonstrations in clinical pummelling death metal with a slight tech edging. There has been a wholesale change in the line-up for the band with only vocalist George Wilfinger remaining out the previous 5 members and replaced by: Joe Gatsch (guitar), Shoi Sen (guitar and also in De Profundis), Sam Terrak (bass) and Cédric Malebolgia (drums and also currently in Putridity). This Austrian/French band has seen fit to deliver a concept album, which is nothing new, on a serial killer, nothing new there either. Basing the album on the horrendous serial killer Johann “Jack” Unterweger is very fitting for the musical destruction and horror this album purveys. This maniac was active during the 70s, 80s and early 90s and is fairly unique in that he was also transatlantic killer, perpetrating his barbaric deeds in multiple countries.
It is rare that a band can truly encapsulate the terror and malignancy within a concept album about a serial killer as this one does. The album has a couple of vocal guest appearances, each adding their own level causticity to the songs which begins with ‘The Mysterious Hollywood Hat-Trick’ and features Julien Truchan of Benighted adding his disembowelling tones to a song saturated in virulent violence and blended to a deluge of cool riff breaks making the opener very catchy. There is a battering frenzy here that marries up with the idea of frenzied killing as a short interlude titled ‘The Strangulation Of Silvia Zagler’ (one of his victims as you guessed and the maniac’s preferred way or murdering women, often with their own bras if my research is correct) creates that creepy unerring level of dread that feeds into ‘Tales From The Vienna Woods’. Short, feral and vicious the song blasts in with unceremonious rage as that clinical savaging prowess hacks into the listener and continues with ‘Exceptionally Sadistic’. With a brutality harnessed to some very catchy structuring the song balances that wrath with supremely addictive riffing.
‘Demon Graz’ (Graz is the city where this man came from) has a more eerie approach, slower double bass sprinkled with fills adds to the momentum as the song has a Death like poise on the guitar work before the explosive detonation in speed, which of course you expect to occur. Another, slightly longer bridging piece ensues, called The Strangulation Of Blanka Bockova’, who was murdered in the Czech Republic, allows the album to take a brief breather before ‘Midnight’ blasts in. Here we get that tech touch I mentioned as I felt there was some similarity to Swedish act Aeon plus a myriad of other more prolific acts I could mention. Swingeing riff changes and tempo variations make the song high in impetus with truly hostile vocal emanations.
Sven de Caluwé (Aborted) makes an appearance on ‘Miami Vice – Miami Gold’ a reference I’m assuming to his arrest in Miami in 1992. Sven’s vocal tone is clearly identified here, adding his gut crushing tone to that hostile approach as the song has a controlled chaotic styling without it falling off a cliff into oblivion. I particularly enjoyed ‘The Legacy Of A Malignant Narcissist’ with its much calmer semi-acoustic opening leading into the slow kick drum work. With a riff break inserted the song starts to escalate in intensity and power as once again we are treated to an inundation of riff and tempo changes, with a crawling abyssal plunge in the song to an oppressive sinister and foreboding style that unleashes one of the coolest riffs on the album. The album concludes its main part with the short ‘A Cleansing Storm’, again eerie in nature and acting like an outro before a cover of Morbid Angel’s ‘Fall From Grace’ is dutifully honoured without much deviation from the original but still a fine addition to the album.
Concept albums don’t get much better than this in death metal, every nuance and aspect has been carefully thought out, from the disturbing cover art, to the way the songs flow from one to the other producing a bludgeoning album with plenty of subtleties.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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