By definition, a hymn is a song
or ode in praise of a deity, a nation, etc. If that is the case, these are
definitely hymns to the ruler of darkness. Finland brings us many bands with a
dark heart, but there are not many bands anywhere in the world with hearts
darker than these two bands. Sometimes I hear of bands that swear allegiance to
the Dark Lord, but you wonder just how serious they are. All it takes is one
pass through this work of dark arts and you will know that these bands are
not playing.
These are some exclusive tracks,
with both bands taking older material and reworking and re-recording it just
for this release. This is a very limited release available from our friends at Hells
Headbangers, and once again they turned out a magnificent product.
Satanic Warmaster are
first up on this split, and they contribute four songs to the mayhem. They play
a very traditional style of black metal, but gussy it up a bit with some
symphonic touches. Their first track in particular, “Black Destiny”, is sheer
black perfection. It hits all the right notes, has some great lyrics, and
really sets the tone for the rest of this release. They also cover “Satanic
Winter” by Finnish band Pest and it is
very well done. If you like your black metal with some production and a flair
for the dramatic, you will dig these four tracks a lot.
Archgoat is a band that I
have written about before, so I won't get too worked up in rehashing my feelings
for them. They are foul and begrimed and blasphemous in the extreme, and their
black metal is more primitive and more likely to click with the reptilian part
of your brain. Their songs are much shorter and to the point, so they actually
contribute nine hymns. Tell me friends, how can you go wrong with tracks like
“Penis Perversor” and “Angelcunt”?
This release works on a couple
of different levels. If you had a friend who didn't know what black metal was,
this would be a really good album to have them listen to. They could hear the
variety that exists even within a sub-genre, and they could hear some very good
practitioners of these styles. If you are serious about your love of Satan,
these songs are definitely worthy of inclusion in your next worship service.
While you may not understand those who worship in this way, there is no
doubting the fervor and sincerity with which these bands do their thing. All we
can really ask for is honest music played by those with honest feeling for what
they do. Satanic Warmaster and Archgoat deliver in spades.
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