Description

Digipack

Few albums have as charming a name as the seminal debut from Antaeus, Cut Your Flesh And Worship Satan. However, this is typical of what black metal is about lyrically, with many of the bands out there choosing to focus on anti-Christianity and suicide. Bands such as Mayhem focused on the former, with Shining taking on the latter, and bands such as Burzum having the best of both words, with the tortured musician responsible venting his feelings through beautiful compositions. In a similar manner to how the title is typical of black metal, much of the music on display here is very typical of much of the more accessible black metal out there. Devotee kicks off the blasphemous rout with a minute of guitar feedback before the song kicks in proper. Blast beats are the main course of this song, with various tremolo picked riffs and a few slower ones found throughout, with some nice bass work being particularly audible towards the end of the song, when everything calms down a little, instead of the berserk style that the song had showcased so far. This is a brutal album opener, that serves as the perfect introduction to the craziness that is to come from this album. Across the entire album, the listener is gifted a glorious array of riffs, from the tremolo picked riffs that define black metal through to the slower, much more thrashy style. The vocalist of this band is effeminately one of their strongest aspects, having a fairly wide range for a black metal vocalist. His screams come in a number of tones, having a real power behind them, never once coming off as feeling weak nor underwhelming. He frequently switches it up to a low death growl, which serves as the perfect contrast for the styling of the music, giving the band a real asset to be proud of. This guy is undoubtedly among the best in the genre at what he does, for the simple fact that he has a wider range than many. One thing that is, for the most part, missing from this album that is found on many black metal albums is the building of an atmosphere. Many black metal albums use their songs to create a truly haunting atmosphere and, in turn, make the album one harrowing experience for the listener alongside the brutality of the music. That contrast of beauty with utter insanity is something that made albums such as Burzum’s debut and many Darkthrone albums so good. However, on here, only a couple of tracks really have any form of atmosphere to them, with the song writing formula clearly being speed based. The hyper fast blast beats may well be a huge plus to the album, but its this full throttle style of playing that inhibits them from creating said atmosphere that would give this album its much needed variation. This album is a solid enough debut that never comes close to threatening the big guns, but instead sticks to its own, well crafted sound. The abundance of tremolo picked riffing throughout this album is its one major downside in that it fast becomes tiring, but the drumming and vocal work more than counteract this. If the band had spent a little time trying to develop a feeling of dread or sorrow throughout this album akin to bands such as Burzum, then this would have real credibility as one of the best in the genre. However, as it stands, this album is just a great black metal album, nothing more and nothing less.

Track list:
1. Inner War
2. Seventh Ceremony
3. Devotee
4. Those With No Eyes
5. Specimen 23
6. Bleeding Blasphemy
7. Nihil Khaos
8. Blood War III-video
9. Inner War-live footage
10. Intravenal Call-live footage
11. Those With No Eyes-live footage