A tendency for comeback to the roots in cultural space is very inherent for nowadays. It can be seen in the movies by nonstop classic remakes and 90’s action movies stylization. In theatres it’s an interest for theatrical classics.
Heavy music is also trying to fill some esthetic failure: the lack of new, strongly marked styles is compensated by lots of “old school style”releases.
Britains Venom considered as patriarchs of black metal with their 1982 album, which gave a name to whole genre. Approximately at the same time in Sweden Tomas ‘Quorthon’ Forsberg founded Bathory and accidently formed black metal as separate genre. As a result, a little later two schools arose arbitrary: Norway (Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone, Burzum) and Sweden (Dark Funeral, Marduk). The first one differed with some “basement” sound and ideological constituent, second is more technical, speedy and brutal.
Göteborg (and subsequently Stockholm) band Beastiality‘s debut album ‘Worshippers of Unearthly Perversions’ is inspired precisely by early period of black metal, and it is some kind of retrospective album. Musically and stylistically it sounds like black thrash metal with transparent, but expressly “basement” sound.
An album contains eight songs that last 35 minutes. Thus, the classical (for the black metal) approach to the formation of the album is underlined. ‘Worshippers of Unearthly Perversions’ starts with “The Mist of Mayhem” intro, that joined some simple choirs and thrash/black massacre. “Witchblood” is full of blast beats and thrashy riffs. “Sadistic Fornication”, some kind of regards to Venom is galloping and smash. Then comes technical “Riders of Imminent Death” with fast drums, which can be played by legendary Canadians Cryptopsy. “Apocalyptic Storm” is close to early Mayhem. An interlude “Hill of Crucifixion” is melodic and based on Quorthon-sound guitar. “Stanken av Uråldrig Död” is an obvious regards to Bathory, and the pearl of an album “Shadowside Path” sounds like it comes from early Ancient albums.
‘Worshippers of Unearthly Perversions’ isn’t trivial. It plays with style, but not copies great bands’ works. It seems that Swedes are purposely destroy modern patterns of perception with luscious sound and verified structures. They scrupulously explore an era, when techniques were equal to speed, and raw sound fit the atmosphere. Some album’s archaism is underlined with evil misanthropic lyrics.
Verdict: flirting again with classical forms of style. As a tendency it’s just forming, but maybe in two or three years some critics will call such bands “neo true black metal”, and they will join the total mainstream flow. But now it worth to listen to nowadays view of the legacy of times, when the style was born. Well, many likes historical movies, so why there wouldn’t be historical albums?
‘Worshippers of Unearthly Perversions’ will be released on December, 15 by Invictus Production.
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