Released towards the rear of last year, Demonic Satanic the new album from Swedish black metallers Mordant just has to be looked at and recommended no matter the length of time since it’s unleashing. Fusing black, thrash, and death metal into one corrosively virulent proposition, the band’s sound and in turn album is a tempest of fearsome rock ‘n’ roll which welcomingly infests and devours the senses.
Formed in 1997, Mordant has released two previous albums in Momento Mori (2004) and Black Evil Master (2008), a trio of demos, and a split with Sabbat in 2013. Each has increasingly nurtured the band’s unique style of black metal fuelled pestilence now raising the cancerous infectiousness of Demonic Satanic out of the sole confines of its source genre. As suggested, the album is pure rock ‘n’ roll without losing any of the Swedish black/metal traits it has its seeds in.
Vengeance from the Dark is the album’s first trespass, the track swiftly luring ears with rhythmic bait and stabbing riffs before driving headlong into a scourge of raw rapacious riffs and toxic grooves. As the throat bleeding tones of vocalist Bitchfire scowl, the thrashier instincts of the band collude with melodic and sonic flirtation but are never allowed off the leash as the track confronts ears like a venomous celebratory waltz. It is a constantly enjoyable nag on the senses with hooks sharing character with old school rock ‘n’ roll, even at times rockabilly.
The excellent start continues as Devastating Storm… Evil Holocaust bounds in with its own incessancy of riffs and rapier like rhythms, the scything swings of drummer Necrophiliac managing to simultaneously bludgeon and be precise in their touch as the bass of Carnage growls with mercurial intent. As the intrusive assault of rhythm guitarist Soulmolester harries ears the grooves of Angelreaper wind themselves around the psyche, venom lining their every twist; masterful assets repeated in the album’s title track straight after. The track is as much psychobilly as it is extreme metal in many ways, that host of elements making up the Mordant sound diverse and expansive not only release by release to date but song by song upon Demonic Satanic. It is still blackened death metal at heart but as catchy as you could wish for; an epidemic of spiteful temptation.
Evil Impalers is another scourge easily taking limbs and appetite in its grip, its thrash sparked charge the drive for insidious suggestion and endeavour to seduce whilst courting the track’s bestial side before the Dals långed based quintet infest the Sabbat track Blacking Metal with their own creative curse. Both tracks leave nothing left to desire with the former pure incitement for pleasure, a potency tapped into by the hellacious outpouring of Desecration from Hell, a tempest of sonic poison also with an embrace of melodic adventure with persuasive toxins of its very own.
Through the pair of Infernal Curse of Evil and Screaming Souls, the senses are tormented and instincts aroused, the first as much a slab of salacious rock ‘n’ roll as it is emotional malignancy and its successor a web of injurious enterprise woven from varied strands of metal. Each leaves a greed for more with the former another peak in the album’s landscape.
Count Lucifer brings the album to a close, its tempest raw yet majestic and surrounded by a web of invasive imagination and magnetic craft. Again you can only describe the enmity as carnal rock ‘n’ roll and one hard to evade becoming enslaved by.
With thanks to Kunal at Transcending Obscurity who personally recommended the album, we may be late to it but have not missed out on something which may happily share its genre inspirations but is, as the Mordant sound, a fresh creative rancor to be in turn inspired by.
Demonic Satanic is out now through To The Death Records and available @ https://tothedeathrecords.bandcamp.com/album/demonic-satanic
https://www.facebook.com/mordantblackmetal
Pete RingMaster 03/03/2017
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
New Haven’s SEA OF BONES and New Hampshire’s RAMLORD come together for one of the incursions upon ears, each offering one epic trespass of their uncompromising sound and intent. Sea of Bones strike first with HOPELESSNESS AND DECAY, the trio of bassist/vocalist Gary Amedy, guitarist/vocalist Tom Mucherino, and drummer/vocalist Kevin Wigginton unleashing a cavernous soundscape soaked in predacious intensity from the off. For over ten minutes the trio breed a wall of confrontation as expansive and decayed as it is at times melancholically seductive. The track ambles, at times lumbers, across the senses, spreading its filth clad body and air with sludge fuelled hostility and moments of corrosive ambience leaving ears and emotions numb.
respect of the listener’s peace and sanity, the first half of the split is consumed by Black Tar Prophet’s sludge/doom powered incursions into the senses and imagination. Starting with the compelling persistence of MALIGNANT, a track living up to its name, the duo of bassist Greg Swinehart and drummer Erik Dever snarl in their distinct way across a further three incitements. As dark as they are heavy, as primal as they are strangely comforting and understanding to the darkest corners of one’s thoughts, Black Tar Prophet probe and transfix with RUINOUS DECAY and the deeply disturbed ABUSE especially momentous.
The last of the Broken Limbs offerings is GUILT AND HIS REFLECTION, thirteen tracks bringing Texans CARA NEIR and WILDSPEAKER together in a split which sees its concept realised through both bands revolving around cannibalism in a post-apocalyptic scenario. The first seven songs escape the creative potency of Arlington, Texas crust duo vocalist Chris Francis and multi-instrumentalist Garry Brents. Starting with the sonically and vocally raw but melodically seductive HALO OF GREY, Cara Neir proceed to explore not only the psychological depths and impact bred in an apocalyptic environment but those of the listener too as tracks like CLINGING TO MY LAST BIT OF SANITY and THE VIEW THROUGH THIS FOG seem to flirt with ears and imagination as fully as they wonderfully antagonise them with their blend of black metal and post rock infested punk. Each of the band’s songs leave a potent impact with the outstanding almost poppy EGO EATS MAN stealing the pair’s half of the show.
Beneath the Chapel takes over next, an encounter growing in ears with a less forceful character compared to its predecessors but one soon sharing its own captivating net of flesh whipping beats and rapacious grooves to seriously please. Again within an ever tempestuous nature irresistible hooks taunt and tempt, providing rich bait within the rawest roar of sound to come from the band in any offering yet and the same template seeds the following Without Warning, a design breeding another individual treat within the album. A tempest of grooves and antagonistic ferocity it simply blossoms into a psyche infesting avalanche of predacious animosity to leave a hunger for more.
Lurker steps up next, again with an opening which demands attention. This time the invitation is a threatening collusion of sound and texture, almost asylum like in its tone and vocal cries. Framing the drama, drummer Jasper Brownlow and bassist Adam McGuinness again place wonderfully grouchy bait which only finds greater impact as a thrash bred surge of riffs and energy erupts. As its predecessor, the song also flows through intensive and slower predacious moments to keep expectations on their toes, especially the almost theatrical passage of the lyrical protagonist’s introspection which comes forward.
Ealdfaeder opens with Eurocide and immediately has the imagination alive as resonating beats from drummer Luca Belviso unite with the suggestive hues of Annie Perreault’s flute. Thoughts of ancient civilisations and modern cultures arise to the simple but pungent lure as the EP begins its overall look at “… the loss of interest and connection between human cultures and the environment due to our greed filled, corrupt world of today.” In no time Perreault is surrounded by the more predacious riffs of Perkins and Sylvain Dumont as that initial rhythmic coaxing equally turns primal and intensive. Drama soaks the track even as it settles down somewhat, though it is still prone to explosive reactions within its intrigue guided prowl. The raw vocal squalls of Barrie Butler infest ears and atmosphere too whilst the resonation of Cesar Franco’s bass strings is as expressive as the flame of French horn laid within the maelstrom by again Perreault.
Released via Godz Ov War Productions / Mythrone Promotion, Enlightenment by Bloodletting is opened up by Turbocharged, the trio of vocalist/bassist Ronnie “Ripper” Olson, guitarist Old Nick, and drummer Freddie Fister imposing Bloodletting on ears. From the moment a wiry groove entangles the senses as concussive rhythms begin to cantankerously stir, attention and pleasure is ignited. As the song’s blasphemy grows, so does the thick lure of bass and riffs around the grouchy tones of Olson, backed in voracious kind by the rest of the band. At its core, the track is unbridled punk ‘n’ roll, a testy examination of body and emotions wrapped in searing sonic enterprise and irritable intensity driven to greater corruption by the merciless beats and dexterity of Fister.
Hellstörm, guitarist Bestial Avenger, bassist Corpsebutcher, and drummer Mortar, the Kraków hailing quartet similarly launch at ears with venomous intent. Instantly, barbarous rhythms collude with bitter riffery as Hellstörm’s vocals spill squalling toxicity upon the now contagious and compelling onslaught of sound. Again it is easy to describe the core of the song as virulent rock ‘n’ roll entangled in the invasive dexterity and invention of the band, but it is a description which really does sum up the galvanic and invigorating violation on offer.