Enthroned "Towards The Skullthrone Of Satan" (Blackend 1997)

Sometimes destiny is weird, or even bad because a band like Enthroned deserved more attention…for sure. After the very good debut, they release in 1997 this excellent “Towards The Skullthrone Of Satan” that is definitely faster and more evil than the album before. 

The production is quite raw but exalts the guitar sound, always brutal, cold and truly evil. The drums are fast and raw in the snare-bass drum sound. “The Ultimate Horde Fights” is on blast beats with the screamed vocals typical by Sabathan. 

Well, the main Enthroned characteristic is to mix in a perfect way obscure guitar lines with fast tempo, so we can find more “mid paced” parts where the true satanic soul is expressed through bestial, malevolent lead guitars lines. “Ha Shaitan” is great and check out the satanic melody from the guitars, especially during the mid paced part. The hyper speed restart part in this song is something unbelievable…

“Evil Church” is my favourite one here. A track to worship, admire, love…rarely Enthroned expressed themselves in these levels. The track is perfectly balanced between obscure melodies and black metal massacres. The refrain is a piece of history of this genre. A small gem. “The Antichrist Summons The Black flame” and “The Forest Of Nathrath” are again a perfect mixture of black metal assault parts with lots of tempo changes and dark melodies. Fucking great. 

Listen to the great black melodies to “Throne To Purgatory” or to the gloomy beginning of “When The Horny Flames…”, this one with excellent solos breaks. Really, this is the very first, in my opinion, Enthroned great work. I believe it’s better than the debut, especially for the guitar song writing and for the burden of fury and Satanism. 

efore I bought this one, I hadn't heard much of Enthroned, and I know now that separated tracks from different albums are not really representative, at least for Enthroned. What's the difference? I have really thought that Enthroned is just another copy of Marduk plus guitar solos. But Enthroned is much more than just "berserk" drums and quickly "spitted" growl (satan, satan, satan and so on). Actually, so fast drums are rather often than usual, because in every song there are few slower moments. Also, lyrics are much more thoughtfully written. But what makes Enthroned so original is that the album is full of electronical intros/outros, sometimes you may heard acoustics or woman (I guess, "Hertogenwald") singing, keyboards are also common. This makes "Towrads the Skullthrone of Satan" various and different.

However, if you look for speed and blasphemy, don't worry - Enthroned is still based on style that swedish BM is known of. One thing that is not good in Enthroned are the vocals - but they are at leasts not annoying, like those in Absu (actually, Proscriptor sounds very similar to Sabathan). Each track sounds different, there are no "genious" ones and no bad ones, just good BM with in very interesting style. "Dusk of Forgotten Darkness", "Evil Church" and "Hertogenwald" would be the best on the album, but every one is really worth listening.

An album to admire in black metal. Back to the roots of evil with Enthroned. 

Vlad Tepes/ Belketre "March Of The Black Holocaust"

Ignoring a lot of the dubious, single-demo side-projects of the main LLN members, there have been some incredible releases under the LLN banner. This highly sought-after split between the controversial Vlad Tepes and the always-excellent Belketre is one of the very best LLN releases.

Vlad Tepes start the proceedings with a commendable lack of pomp or pretension, instead offering us thirty minutes of rock & roll style grimy black metal. The traditional rock influences are quite prominent in this material, more so than on other Vlad Tepes releases that I’ve heard. Some of the riffs are, in fact, positively upbeat; ‘Under The Carpathian Yoke’ could almost be danced to!

The production is, for Vlad Tepes, surprisingly good. Every part of the drum kit is audible, and guitar riffs are easily discernable. There is a strong bass presence here, so if trebly black metal isn’t your thing, this could well appeal. Of course, this is not a ‘well produced’ affair, and everything is wrapped up in a veil of grime and filth that confirms Vlad Tepe’s status as a black metal band rather than a rock band with extreme vocals.

On the subject of vocals, don’t expect anything remarkable here. If you’ve heard, say, Natterfrost, or Abbath’s earlier vocal style, then you’ll know exactly what to expect. This undeniably suits the musical style, but is disappointingly generic, especially compared to the Belketre half of this split.

Overall, then, this is my favourite Vlad Tepes material. I’ve never been a big fan, and ‘La Morte Lune’ especially did nothing but give me a headache, but this is a far better attempt all around. It’s not groundbreaking, and it’s not original, but it is a solid set of ‘black & roll’ that certainly compliments the French’s reputation for filth and perversion.

The true filth, though, and the real reason for hunting down this record, is Belketre’s half. Equally devoid of any musical theatrics, they present us with a further half hour of depraved and nihilistic audio violence. In contrast with Vlad Tepe’s more bass-orientated sound, this is a shrill, screeching affair. The buzzing guitars scythe their way through the mix, and are devoid of any bass frequencies at all. The actual bass is quite low in the mix, but is easily audible because it is the only instrument (apart from the kick drum) that actually makes any bass frequencies. The drums are slightly muffled, but this works well with the trebly nature of the production, and rounds off the very analogue sound.

I cannot praise Belketre’s vocalist enough. The hatred that he spews out is truly unmatched by anyone I’ve ever heard; Even the supremely evil Old Wainds never managed vocals quite this depraved. The lyrics are screeched out in a way that is hard to describe; they’re not mid-range yapping like Vlad Tepes, but neither are they as shrill as Behexen or Burzum. The most noticeable element of the vocal work is how human it sounds. This makes a refreshing change, and makes them all the more horrifying because they’re so ‘real.’ This is not the sound of a band trying to sound like pure evil; this is the sound of a man filled with unadulterated hate and anguish.

This compliments the music perfectly, and especially on this material, because the ‘solitude, sorrow and despair’ elements of Belketre’s self-proclaimed ‘solitude, sorrow, despair and hate’ tag are not as present in this music as in their other releases, leaving the hatred to envelope everything.

The songs are broken up by a couple of brief interludes, in which mildly distorted guitars pluck out ominous melodies, and distorted, bestial grunting reverberates around the speakers. This makes for a fantastic contrast to the ‘proper’ songs, and is a genuine contribution to the music, rather than the almost obligatory keyboard intros / interludes that a lot of bands use. The main body of songs alternates between fast drumming and screeching chords, and mid-paced ‘rock’ drum beats with Belketre’s trademark twisted melodies. Opening track ‘Guilty’ reminds me of the Belketre classic ‘The Dark Promise’, with it’s ‘rocky’ overtones and simplistic chord work. Elsewhere, ‘Night Of Sadness’ begins with some sorrowful lead work, and reminds me of my favourite Belketre song ‘Twilight Of The Black Holocaust’.

Put simply, if you’ve heard Belketre before, then you’ll know what to expect, and you should be salivating at the prospect of this. Although my absolute favourite Belketre tracks are from other releases, this is the best release overall, comprising a consistently quality set of songs, and what is probably the most fitting production they ever achieved.

If you have not heard Belketre before, then you have not heard black metal, and you need this in the same way that thrash fans need Sodom and Destruction.

Enthroned "Regie Sathanas" (Blackend Records 1998)

I cannot believe it has already been 19 years since I have actually purchased my copy of “Regie Sathanas”! Time flies like crazy and it really makes me feel a bit old hehe. But there are always those great memories left, when I was 18 and have been a huge fan of Enthroned at that time. I really, really worshipped their first two albums (“Prophecies of Pagan Fire” and “Towards the Skullthrone of Satan”, if you don’t them) and have been listening them a lot (A LOT!!). Ha, nowadays both albums don’t really make such a big impression on me anymore, but that may be just because I know every sound on them too well and they seem slightly boring nowadays. But I still consider early Enthroned as one of the greatest black metal bands. But back to “Regie Sathanas”… It was very special release and I just had to buy my own copy, as soon as it has been available at the Polish distro (Mystic Productions’). This MCD obviously memorizes Cernunnos, the drummer of Enthroned, who committed suicide in 1997. He recorded his parts for the second LP and hasn’t even lived long enough to see it being released. Well, since I consider suicide as the stupidity more than bravery (pha!), I am not gonna cry for Cernunnos, but surely I must say that “Regie Sathanas” is actually my favourite release in the discography of Enthroned. It is just fantastic half an hour of classic Enthroned and the finest material the band has recorded.

Track list: 

1. Prelude to Satan's Avengers (instrumental)

2. By Dark Glorious Thoughts

3. Walpurgis Night

4. Satan Never Sleeps

5. The Conqueror (Sodom cover)

6. Deny the Holy Book of Lies

7. Outro (instrumental)

As the booklet for “Regie Sathanas” says, some stuff from this MCD dates as back as to 1988, when Cernunnos and Sabathan were shredding the guts with their previous band Morbid Death (ha, I love Sabathan’s nickname on the first Morbid Death demo – “Guy-Guy”, luckily not “Gay-Gay” hehe!!!!). Song titled “Satan Never Sleeps” is the one, which was written back then and it even appeared on Morbid Death’s second demo “Diabolic Force”. I’ve never heard this demo, but when listening to the new version of this track you can obviously hear that this is something way more archaic and stylistically different to what Enthroned was ever doing. But I actually really, really like this track a lot. That opening theme is just awesome and later, when it turns into archaic thrashing death metal, but played with the black metal sound and vocals, it just blows my head off. It is actually worth to mention that the drums on “Regie Sathanas” were played by new drummer of the band, Namroth Blackthorn, who also have been a member of Morbid Death and even recorded the drums for the mentioned “Diabolic Force” demo (Dan Vandenplas, a’ka Cernunnos was a guitarist / vocalist in this band!). Ha, the history comes full circle here!

Along with this old song, Enthroned recorded here two new songs from 1997, which were composed with the new line up, after “Towards the Skullthrone of Satan” was released and again I must say that I like both songs a lot. “My Dark Glorious Thoughts” is especially killer, very fast, relentless and violent piece of black metal, but obviously it is not bereft of the melody, which has always been present in Enthroned’s music (actually, just listen to that awesome, long harmonious guitar solo… what a great tune!). Another new track, “Walpurgis Night”, may have slightly odd beginning, but it’s a classic song for this band, with catchy and memorable riffing and overall a great, dark and satanic atmosphere. Moving forward though, the cover of Sodom’s “Conqueror” sounds just absolutely fuckin KILLER, it has been played very fast and really shreds to pieces, I may even like this version more than the original song from Sodom he! I know it may sound blasphemous, but just listen to this version on “Regie Sathanas” and tell me if it is not a fuckin shredder. And finally the whole MCD is finished with a new version of “Deny the Holy Book of Lies”, my favourite song from “Prophecies of Pagan Fire” LP. And again it just sounds extremely great, it has been played way faster than on the album or “Promo 1994”, where it also appeared. And man, what an excellent piece of black metal it is, what a memorable song and amazing, obscure atmosphere. This is why I like Enthrone music so much… with those excellent riffs, raspy vocals of Sabathan and freezing cold, satanic atmosphere. Just fuckin scream “Ave Satan… ave… ave!!!!” with Sabathan and feel the essence of Enthroned! And in the end it has been played so fast that it is just a fuckin shock!. 

Yeah, can you feel my enthusiasm towards “Regie Sathanas”? Really, I think this MCD is just excellent and by far it is the best of all Enthroned releases, in my opinion. It is extremely powerful and contains just excellent songs, all closed in 30 minutes, what is not bad for the MCD. I strongly recommend it to you all. If you call yourself a black metal maniac, you just must have this release. For me it also has sort of sentimental value, being one of my favourite releases and bands from the mid to lat 90’s, so… “Regie Sathanas”!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope they’ll release it on vinyl one day though, as I have all other Enthroned albums on vinyl, only this one of CD hehe!

Standout tracks: “By Dark Glorious Thoughts”, “Deny the Holy Book of Lies”, “Conqueror”. 

Terrorizer "World Downfall" Earache records 1989

Once in a while you'll come across a truly remarkable album. A masterwork of the metal genre. An album that's one of few, but really stands head and shoulders above the rest. World Downfall is one such record. It's just damn near perfect. No other "grind" albums save "Horrified" even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence. 

To begin, the production is excellent. Probably Scott Burns' best. The instruments are well balanced but definitely "raw". Jesse Pintado's guitar is thick and nasty, with head-splitting heaviness and a low death metal pitch. That's to help remind you that you're listening to metal, not the high-speed political punk of a certain English quartet. David Vincent plays a crushing, ultra-distorted bass, though his playing typically follows the guitar except on a few occasions. Oscar Garcia has a deep, harsh growl (about halfway between Jeff Becerra and Symphonies of Sickness-era Jeff Walker) that really sets the atmosphere of death and despair, two of the more dominant lyrical subjects on here. The drums are solid, and the bass drums have a distinct thump rather than the hated "clicking" that would soon become a Scott Burns trademark.

The riffing is relentless, but truly exceptional in that Pintado doesn't need to play at light speed to be effective. Example: the beginning mid-paced groove of "Fear of Napalm", one of the album's many memorable riffs. However, it's drummer Pete Sandoval's performance that takes the cake. His playing is mind-boggling; hyper-fast, yet incredibly precise. No sloppiness here. Listen to the many drum fills on the opening track, or any other for that matter. He shows amazing speed and variation, two attributes rarely seen simultaneously. 

Most of the album is played at warp-speed, but the band can change tempos at the flick of a switch. Songs like "Corporation Pull-In" and the title track have (relatively) mid-paced riffs that simply dominate. But it's that blast beat and those shredding six-strings everywhere else that define the album. Put Reign in Blood, Dealing With It, Scum, and Seven Churches in a blender set to "liquefy" and you might end up with this. 

It's a shame that the band split up around the time of World Downfall's release. They deserve a lot of respect for this album. When heavy music comes to mind, most metalheads don't mention this band. However, don't let their ignorance mislead you. World Downfall is the complete package.

There is still little room for subtlety. Blast beats abound, the lyrics pull no punches, and the shout-along choruses (if you're quick enough to spot them) are utterly bestial. At it's time of release, the speed of the music on this album was almost unheard of, with only a few bands, like Napalm Death, Carcass, and Extreme Noise Terror doing anything which even came close. Unlike those bands, Terrorizer was an incredibly tight unit, and didn't need to rely on high velocity to cover any shortcomings in musicianship. 

Terrorizer was a bit of a Grindcore supergroup. Drummer Pete "Commando" Sandoval and bass player/vocalist David Vincent both played with Morbid Angel, while guitarist Jesse Pintado later joined Napalm Death.

This album can seem like a cyclonic blur from start to finish on first listen, with almost every track of the same consistency, but that's not to say they all sound the same. Standing head and decomposing shoulders above the rest of the album though is the legendary "Dead Shall Rise". 

Recipients Of Death "Final Fight" Wild Rags Records 1990

Recipients Of Death (What a hell the name should mean?) surely are not a well known band but their thrash fucking rules!! This EP comes at the beginning of a period in which thrash metal passed through a period of crisis but they seem not to care a lot.

Here we can find 5 tracks of pure old style thrash, heavily influenced by hardcore, like early Atrophy or late D.R.I. and also the vocal lines are very similar to those ones in those bands. 

While the title track is total speed, with the second song, in “Behind Closed Doors” there are well structured mid-tempo with some out of the blue more speed parts. Both the mid-paced and the up tempo parts are very good, always catchy. The solos are typical of this genre: not technical, with shreds and so on but who cares in this genre?? I mean, this is a kind of thrash that focuses the attention on the speed and the headbanging, not on the technique.

“Recrimination” is a good up tempo with an excellent bass drum break. The bass sound is always present and the production is very good, old fashioned and perfect for this gene. In this song we have a bunch of fast and short solos that sometimes jump out in some parts. 

“F.O.A.D” song is an instrumental one done by the guitars only. Here we can find lots of good tapping parts too. Very good. This instrumental one ends in the “Democratic Life” song that reminds me a lot Sacred Reich during the “Ignorance” period, from the point of view of the music and lyrics, never childish. This song is a good up tempo with a great break in the middle. 

This is not a well known thrash metal album but it deserves to be heard for his purity and passion.  

Great album, slightly comparable to Slayer at their fastest, vocal department of this band has a nice hardcore-ish edge, like  bands such as Evildead and The Horde Of Torment. The music is indeed quite intense and does not pale in comparisons with even many bigger bands, Recipients Of Death got something right in their music as demonstrated by these powerful recordings. What an album!

And now please help me to stop moving my head!!!.