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██▌ Artist...: Slaughtbbath ░▐██▌
░▐██ Album....: Alchemical Warfare ░██▌░
▓▐██ Year.....: 2020 ▓▐██▓
▓▐██ Rel.Date.: 2020-08-09 ░▐██▓
▐██ Genre....: Black Metal ██▌░
░ ██▌ Label....: Old Temple ██▌
▐██ Source...: CD ▐██
░▐██▌ Type.....: Reissue ▐██▌░
▓▄████ Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo ████▌░
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1. Ritual Bloodbath 2:53
2. Resuscitated by Immortal Scorn 2:51
3. Cavern of Misanthropy 4:36
4. Prophetic Crucifixion 3:08
5. Rejoined into Chaos 5:32
6. Alchemical Warfare 2:30
7. Amulets of Carnage 3:33
8. Celestial Overthrow 4:25
9. Ascension to the Dragon's Throne 5:01
------
34:29
Flaying rotten flesh from enchanted skeletal fingers the first fist of a
hundred plunges through the fetid, dank hiding place for the worm-ridden
æsavioræ whoÆd been freshly buried in slashed and spearÆd form. The
horror of the noise, a din of cracking bones and crumbling rock, from
every angle frightens not the corpse lain upon a slab in the center of
the tomb. He is eternally dead. He never would have risen yet the
sorcery tunneling towards the False Oneæs place of rotten rest intends
to ensure no corporeal speck remains of the fabled empath. OÆ the
splatter of these barbarian skeleton arisen, revolting in their
hammering of one arm held as a club in the other, as they make quick
paste of the supposed creatorÆs kin Ætil even the anaerobic worm and
rotten bacterium are burst down to their very cells. Anxious in their
quest to defile pious corpses further these monstrosities fling open the
stone entombment and set upon the cradle of all humanity with bloodied
bone-fists and shrieking crystalline eyes. A shatter of glass and an
incantation whirled topples the warriors in service to the necrotic
defiler of the æChristÆ, an alchemist and a ghoul-conjurer in defiance
of the easily swayed masses. Bottling the paste of the ælambÆ and
poisoning the tomb, the tone for the coming war against piety is set
alight. From those ancient fires burns an on-raging sect of diabolic
shaman in the depths of San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Chile persist and
stoically thrive under the name Slaughtbbath. They of vitalized
black/death traditions burn at a rate ten times their peer as these
highland destroyers unleash their second full-length sized opus
æAlchemical WarfareÆ here in cataclysmic 2019.
Though youÆd be astute to suggest there are many bands similar to
Slaughtbbath today, those that focus on equal measures of black, thrash,
and death metal influences in creation of brutal and high friction
black/death metal on the cusp of war metal noise, but when theyÆd kicked
into gear back in 2002 this wasnÆt necessarily yet such a refined middle
ground between said compatible sub-genres. There is no denying that
compatriots Perversor, Force of Darkness and to some degree Hades Archer
each have a similar glint in their eye that suggests indomitable
riffcraft and blackened ultra-violence in performances yet Slaughtbbath
remain distinguishable from their Chilean brethren even today thanks to
uniquely propulsive battery and a raw chainsawed approach to thrashing
death infused bestial black metal. That violence must initially stem
from early Sarc≤fago on some level but æAlchemical WarfareÆ resembles a
refinement of something more advanced in its blasphemic mayhem, closer
to Bestial Mockeryæs æChristcrushing HammerchainsawÆ crossed with the
overblown death-howling righteousness of Sacrocurse circa æGnostic
HolocaustÆ. Most would find Force of Darkness a close enough comparison
but I find æAlchemical WarfareÆ slightly more classic æbrutalÆ
thrash-minded in terms of composition. You wouldnÆt be far off
considering early Necrophobic (see: ôAscension to the DragonÆs Throneö)
either, but clearly Slaughtbbath are much more in line with the
black/bestial machine beyond their stronghold in the south.
The first thing you should notice upon firing up ôRitual Bloodbathö is
just how unstoppable this brutal storm of an introduction is and that
the pace keeps up throughout; From the descent of the introductory riffs
towards the screaming solo that kicks the song off it becomes clear that
æAlchemical WarfareÆ finds the band focusing on razor-sharp blackened
thrash duality with their stripped down yet entirely full sounding
approach to ye olde bestial attack. The style of the band remains
riff-driven throughout. As the tracks blow by, it is clarified that
Perversor and Slaughtbbath are on a similar level of speed and intricacy
despite offering relatively unique takes on the black/death/thrashing
front simultaneously. Vocalist/bassist D. Desecrator is the linchpin
here as he delivers an even more animated and blasphemic performance
compared to the seemingly unconquerable æHail to FireÆ (2013). Songs
like ôProphetic Crucifixionö have all the more power behind them because
of how consistently frantic the energy that the band brings is but, it
is the slower pyre-burn of ôRejoined Into Chaosö where I began to see
æAlchemical WarfareÆ as more than just another good/up-to-par release
from Slaughtbbath. To be fair the standards were fairly high to begin
with and the six year wait between records had become daunting.
The legacy and the vitality of this well-regarded band remain not only
intact but doubly egregious in their blasphemic assault today. IÆm not
sure IÆve heard a black metal song as goddamned throttled and thrashing
hard as ôCelestial Overthrowö this year, save maybe Ares Kingdomæs
record, and that song alone is worth a full listen; Even better when
paired with the adjacent finale of ôAscension to the DragonÆs Throneö. I
sure as hell feel like IÆve gotten my moneys worth buying an album like
this that manages to impress back to front without a shred of
front-loaded nonsense imbalancing the weight of this fine Slaughtbbath
album. That well-considered consistency is a mark of pride for the band
and shows theyÆre not just cranking out quick, under-baked shit like so
many other black/death bands are today. Highly recommended. For preview
purposes IÆd suggest starting with the pairing of ôRitual Bloodbathö and
ôRejoined in Chaosö for the first two big peaks of the record while
making sure not to miss my favorite track, the witching death-thrasher
ôCelestial Overthrowö.
---
In many ways the true heir to SarcofagoÆs legacy, ChileÆs Slaughtbbath
return with their second LP, æAlchemical WarfareÆ released this
September. These days we call this æblackened thrashÆ. ItÆs rippingly
fast, primitive, atonal thrash metal channelled through the blender of
sporadic tremolo strumming and tritone breakdowns that lends it that
early black metal feel.
The production is anything but old school however. Compression is the
name of the game, with any nod to subtlety expelled. This unsubtle power
provides the foundation to the relentless pummelling that is æAlchemical
WarfareÆ. All the ingredients are there. Riffs leading the way, with
simple shifts in pitch dictating the intensity of each track, and drums
free to switch tempos and rhythm almost independently of the guitars.
Vocals are a basic monstrous growl that cuts through the mix
surprisingly well given the overpowering guitars, all lyrics being
easily audible. With such a tight rhythmic foundation, solos are free to
come and go as they choose, again adding intensity sans tempo changes,
rather than determining the direction of the music.
With all that in mind I am somewhat torn over æAlchemical WarfareÆ. On
the one hand it is exactly my bag. Maybe I was dropped on my head as a
child, maybe IÆm intellectually deficient, but I just canÆt seem to get
enough of these primitive, thrashing riffs atop relentless blast or
d-beats. I would happily listen to nothing else. And Slaughtbbath
certainly tick these boxes with a thick, black line.
On the other hand æAlchemical WarfareÆ is not bringing anything new to
the table even if we channel down to the compositional architecture
beneath the noise. Now IÆm the last person youÆll find criticising lack
of originality. Most bands that try and develop themselves as musicians
from album to album fucking suck. If youÆre on to a good thing û which
Slaughtbbath have been since their inception û then donÆt change. But I
cannot in good conscious recommend AC as an objectively worthy album,
because I am acutely aware that my love for it is because thereÆs
something wrong me.
One can appreciate it as a flawlessly executed representative of its
style. But thereÆs no shortage of primitive blackened thrash û even
within the career of Slaughtbbath û to make this a notable addition to
the archives. But if you suffer from the same mental shortcomings as
myself (and I know thereÆs a few of you out there), then æAlchemical
WarfareÆ is the business.
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