Y’all are down with Iron Bonehead by now, yes? No other label has been churning out the underground filth with as vicious a streak lately as these Handwerksmeisters of degradation. They’ve got a vigorous thumb on the pulse of all the corruption that’s fit to print, and joints like us often have to chew through multiple releases at a time in an effort to keep up with the label’s intense pace.
So, without further ado: another pile of Iron Boneheaded grandeur…
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UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN – Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath
Unaussprechlichen Kulten (pronounced “unaussprechlichen kulten”) play a sturdy, raw, slightly discordant style of death metal ideally suited for the discerning headbanger voted Most Likely to Attend a Gentle Family Outing Wearing a Dawn of Possession Shirt and Inverted Cross Necklace. (“Cousin Jorge, you remember my son, Diabolical Christ Wrecker, don’t you?”)
Hell, there’s a song called “The Hooded Baphomet Bleated” snuggled amongst these lovely little jingles. If that ain’t a call to arms to any and every fellow on the block who’s abused a hoodie, gas mask and a candelabra for a profile pic, then I’m a monkey’s uncle. A damn, dirty ape of a monkey’s uncle.
Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath represents U-Kulten’s third full-length scattered amongst an impressive pile of demos, EPs and splits with other similarly-minded Beelzebubbians, and it’s extremely indebted to the Failures for Gods era of Immolation many of us hold dear to our hearts. The allegiance to rawness so many South American bands have underlined over the years is also present, however, so it’s still a far cry from straight-up Immolation Imitation. Immotation?
P.S. *Baphomet wang alert* *Baphomet wang alert* *Baphomet wang alert*
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ATHANATOS – Unholy Union
Two key points to underscore with regard to Athanatos‘ Unholy Union. First, this demo reminds me of a time (more specifically, the very early 90s) when Relapse Records used to push the kind of dirty, fresh, grinding (but not necessarily Grind) death metal that would cause me to soil the bejesus out of my acid-washed jeans. Hwarf down that filthy & delectable riff break 2:55 into the title track, or the similarly gnarly punch to the giblets that strikes 2:15 into “Per Vas Nefandum” – you could easily run this dog alongside the ’91 versions of Rottrevore, Gorephobia and Monstrosity with nary a blink.
Second, I loooove the more “shouted” style of vocals employed throughout Unholy Union. They remind me of Killing Joke at times. Weird? Yeah, maybe. But they help to separate Athanatos from the seemingly unending barrage of underground death metal grousers currently chugging out savagery such as this.
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SACRIFICIO – Sacrificio
“[Sacrificio] vociferate the sullenness and the vigour of their lyrics sung on Spanish as their mother language (evoking the same feeling of uniqueness of the old bands from the most unexpected and darkest latitudes like Columbia, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Hungary…), spawning a looming ruination of marginal row, cloaked by a rumbling atmosphere as a pandemonium of dantesque splendour.” ~ from the Down with the Most High Records website
You know, there’s really not much more I can think to add to a relatively quick run-down of Spain’s Sacrificio that the above statement doesn’t already cover in wobbly spades. I will say this, however: Sacrificio is the sort of demo that will easily call out the true swines in the herd, so hobble your lewd ass to the front of the line if you prefer your black metal to be hamstrung by nearly every underachieving trick in the book.
These delightfully disadvantaged ditties shimmy the alleyway like a one-legged beggar with a liter of Listerine in his gut, and the production makes a band like Sarcofago sound like goddamned Dream Theater in comparison. (P.S. Not really – they both sound like Hell. TRUE HELLLLL!)
Drums and bass teeter through the left speaker, while impish vocals hiss alongside clumsily gimping riffs on the right. And the LEADS! My God, those beautifully soured leads. I… I think I’m in love? But it burns when I pee.
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TEMPLE DESECRATION – Communion Perished
Worried that los Boneheads Hierro is only concerned with totally misshaped sewer metal that sounds like it was ripped directly from the teet of Bathory and Hellhammer demos? Poland’s Temple Desecration just might be your ticket to ride, you puffed-up peckerwoods.
Thirteen-and-a-half minutes of blistering, slugging, devilish death metal that sounds like Azarath pierced by Hellraiser chains and yanked through an Autopsy tar pit. Evil, raw, roaring, ripping and heavier than the Devil’s dong pounding 10,000 derelict nuns.
Nothing left to talk about, so get listening.
