Quite a statement of intent on this, Shroud of Satan’s debut full-length album.
The German band’s inlay proudly proclaims the following…
“Shroud of Satan considers Black Metal as a cult to be preserved and honoured. We refuse to accept any forms of softening the sacred traditional restrictions as desirable…
…Black Metal is defined by distinct, intolerant and stubborn constraints that we are proud to dwell in…”
Fair play guys, if you put it like that.
Primitive, misanthropic, diabolical sermons are promised, and that’s exactly what you get.
Thirty-seven minutes worth, in fact.
A lack of musical variety for sure, but when the result is so sincerely and ferociously delivered, you’d be a fool to complain.
Sharing the same single-minded tightness of Nachtmystium’s ‘Silencing Machine’ or Endstille’s claustrophobic gem ‘Endstilles Reich’, ‘At the Behest of Time’ neatly ignores the progressive, honours the past, and displays the kind of sound that a band like this should be making.
The riffs are razor-sharp, the drumming is simple and effective, and the vocals scorch and yelp their way through the unholy chaos and various tempo changes, ensuring that Shroud of Satan have your complete attention at all times.
Opening track ‘Lurking in Profound Obscurity’ makes for a scathing attack, and the bizarrely “catchy” ‘The Enemy’s Skin’ provides an earworm of the grimmest order, while the title-track and the lengthy finale of ‘In Vanitate Veritas’ reinforces the comparison to Endstille’s suffocating buzzy tone.
Punctuated at times, by samples of spoken Satanic celebration, the album sustains might and mood throughout its 7 tracks.
Like an early Darkthrone album (but with good songs and better production), ‘At the Behest of Time’ is an “enjoyable”, honest, and brutally efficient release. A record that shows Shroud of Satan standing tall in keeping the dark flame of black metal burning brightly.
(8/10 Stuart Carroll)
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