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artist: Black Witchery
title: Desecration of the Holy Kingdom
year: 2002
genre: Black Metal
type: Album [REISSUE]
label: Nuclear War Now! Productions
language: English
rel. date: 2002-00-00
source: WEB/MP3
quality: CBR 320kbps / 44.1 kHz / Joint Stereo
runtime: 00:32:59
size: 75.6 MiB / 11 tracks
rip date: 2026-03-21
source url: https://open.qobuz.com/album/dz056r2uusivc
tracklist:
01. Desecration of the Holy Kingdom 5:01
02. Crush the Messiah 2:41
03. Blasphemous Onslaught 1:44
04. Command of the Iron Baphomet 3:17
05. Unholy Vengeance of War 3:42
06. Deathrash (Sarcófago cover) (bonus) 1:47
07. Into Damnation Eternal 3:06
08. Chaostorms of Demonic Hate 3:30
09. Invincible Antichrist Victory 2:04
10. The Angelholocaust 2:47
11. Ritual (Blasphemy cover) (bonus) 3:22
release notes:
In 2002, Black Witchery were just beginning to establish themselves in
the underground. Likewise, NWN! had just completed its first two vinyl LP
releases (Blasphemy's "Live Ritual" and Morbosidad's self-titled debut)
and was still in its embryonic stages. It was in this context that NWN!
released the vinyl version of Black Witchery's "Desecration of the Holy
Kingdom." (Although licensed from Full Moon Productions, the vinyl
version of the album was conceived and executed by NWN!.) At the time,
"Desecration of the Holy Kingdom" represented the most morbid necromantic
invocation of Blasphemy and Sarcofago and others like them that had yet
been summoned forth. No other band fully captured these bands' intense
and ritualistic sound with the same violence and dedication to chaos. And
yet, while the influence of these bands is undoubtedly found within their
work, Black Witchery defined their own sound relying upon their mentors
merely to establish a stream in which to create their own dark current.
Black Witchery's sound on "Desecration of the Holy Kingdom" is furious
and focused. The instruments are so carefully connected to one another
that the sound is an almost mechanical. And yet the songs are not driven
so much by the frenetic riffs and blast beats but by Impurath's maniacal
vocal performance. These characteristics made Black Witchery's sound
distinctive, and in this way, the band's purpose was immediately clear.
Black Witchery was not out to emulate the bands by which they were
influenced; instead, they embodied the very essence of the genre. As
such, Black Witchery helped to usher in what may be convincingly
characterized as the second wave of bestial black/death metal. Much like
Conqueror and Revenge, Black Witchery established their own identity
while simultaneously paying tribute to their predecessors. It should be
recalled that, at the time "Desecration of the Holy Kingdom" was
released, the underground was not flooded with hundreds of second and
third-rate bands playing so called "bestial black death" much as it is
today. Indeed, Black Witchery sought to maintain a tradition that was
waning amid the onslaught of "raw black metal" acts overrunning the scene
at that time. Black Witchery represented a return to the strength and
ferocity of form that was being forgotten in underground metal, and with
"Desecration of the Holy Kingdom," Black Witchery ushered in a new era of
Satanic hatred. Over 15 years after its release, the import and power of
Black Witchery's debut LP has not subsided at all. In this new era, where
metal genres and subgenres rise and fall in the duration of a single
season, it's important to approach the classic albums with appropriate
reverence and to maintain the collective appreciation of the foundational
albums. "Desecration of the Holy Kingdom" undoubtedly is such an album.
For that reason, NWN! and Black Witchery decided that it is once again
time to resurrect this ancient entity. Additionally, with last year's
passing of Tragenda, Black Witchery's guitarist at the time of this
album, it is all the more important to make this album available once
more to preserve his legacy. -- J. Campbell (2017)