Absolutely soul-darkening black metal is great, but have you ever added a rousing round of spell-casting darkness to the vilest form of heavy metal in existence? Honestly, a savage bludgeoning always is a good time, and I’ll never throw that out of the proverbial heavy metal bed. But it’s also nice when a band gives you a little more so that your psyche can be fully damaged.
Nordic black metal beasts Misotheist don’t have a gigantic resume, but what they’ve offered so far has been a refreshing jolt of devastation that gets into your cell structure and changes a bunch of shit around. Their second record is arriving, and “For the Glory of Your Redeemer” is a three-track, half-hour exercise in the blackest of arts, but with their own creativity added for good measure. It’s put together in similar manner of their 2018 self-titled debut, but it’s a step above, a richly punishing record that’s awesome from beginning to end. The band—we don’t have a full lineup, and they have next to no online presence—delivers black metal that’ll stick to your ribs, but it also impacts your psyche in that you’ll find yourself far more damaged at the end than do were going into the thing.
“Rope and Hammer” trickles in before the fuel meets the match, and we have an absolute eruption. Vicious growls and crushing playing combine and deliver brute force before melodic hell is unleashed that gets into your bloodstream. The band unloads as everything burns as the growls punish, the disorienting playing mixes the brains in your skull, and everything bleeds to an end. “Benefactor of Wounds” crushes as riffs spiral, and vicious vocals rip out your guts. The playing feels like it’s blasting you into dust as a melodic, but destructive chorus strikes, and the beastly power smashes. Fires are stoked again, heating your face, bringing everything to a cataclysmic end. “Acts of the Flesh” is the 16:09-long closer that begins with weird noises and the plodding bass before things explode into spellbinding madness. The playing hammers as the growls engorge, the terror continually unloads, psychologically sending you into ruin, and then things spill into an eerie pocket before guitars liquify. Things get moodier as the growls punish, a mystical feeling comes over everything, and dreary winds and weighty darkness pull you permanently into its vortex.
“For the Glory of Your Redeemer” is very similar to Misotheist’s debut at least in structure, but things definitely have taken a darker turn here. This is a record that doesn’t require a huge commitment from you, and it rewards you with an assault that rarely takes a turn into serenity and keeps pushing your buttons as aggressively as can be. This is dark and hideous and holds within it strange mysteries that’ll take you countless listens to reveal.
For more on the band, go here: https://terraturpossessions.bandcamp.com/album/misotheist
To buy the album, go here: https://van-records.com/Terratur-Possessions_3
For more on the label, go here: https://terraturpossessions.com/
Meat Mead Metal 