The late pro wrestler Big Van Vader was always fun to watch in the ring, but maybe never more so than when he was working a squash match, a contest against enhancement talent who was basically was supposed to obliterate. One time, he broke a dude’s back by accident. Just brutal stuff. But it was incredible viewing, even if his opponents still were taking a beating in a worked sport.

That wasn’t my first impression tackling “Disavowed, and Left Hopeless,” the new record from Our Place of Worship Is Silence, but after a few trips, I could not help but think of having two gloved fists utterly battering my face and chest, and me being devastated until mercy finally was given with the eventual three count. This band—guitarist/vocalist Eric, drummer/vocalist Tim—always had that violent streak, but this third record takes that to a whole new level, one that’s terrifying and feels like it won’t quit until you do. Permanently. Everything here is amplified from their work that precedes this album, and if you aren’t prepared for the devastating toll, you’ll be buried in no time with their furious smash of death and black metal.

“The Conspiracy Against Cruelty” starts with utterly grim guitar work that grinds at you, the pace pummeling relentlessly, and the band thrashing away, smothering with its instrumental power. “Covenant of the Fallen” has beastly vocals and wild chaos erupting, wasting away your muscle and bone. This is pure brutality as the shrieks destroy, the playing trudges, and the splattering makes it impossible to breathe, burning out into madness. “Fury Divine,” featuring Elog Ulug from Teeth on guitars as it clubs and punishes with insane vocals working into your brain, mixing shrieks and growls that compete for your psyche. The playing is mangling and violent, splattering blood and other mysterious juices, while the guitars absolutely scorch. Things keep getting more abrasive, molten slaughtering eats away, and everything jolts and melts into a fog.

The title track immediately sinks its claws, the shrieks go off, and things spiral and eventually mash your bones. The scene gets weirder and storms in a haze, the maniacal pace scrambles your brains, and the growls slash, leaving you battered. “Mdłości II” is just delirious with strong guitar work flexing, and atmospheric melody touching down, making your mind tingle. The pace piledrives from there, spiraling into madness, crashing to the earth as the guitars twist and turn, ending in a foggy gaze. “From the Noisome Pestilence” opens gargantuan hell as the guitars carve away, and animalistic insanity arrives and sickens. Chaos storms as the shrieks pelt, the pace heats up, and hypnotic guitars add a new element that begins to melt, ringing out into the night. “The Scourge” is the closer and starts like a mammoth stomping relentlessly, the shrieks mar, and your flesh feels like it’s going through a grinder. Total insanity is unleashed, weird guitar tones make your nightmares come to life, and things keep getting uglier, ripping into your chest. The playing chugs its final mangling burst, the tempo brutalizes, and the track rips out into time.

Our Place of Worship Is Silence sounds absolutely unhinged on “Disavowed, and Left Hopeless,” a record that tells you all you need to know from its title. We are indeed awash in truly dark, deranged times where the human experiment has unraveled out of control, with no way to truly cut off the death convulsion. This record is a deadly, unforgiving document that feels like it hints at the end of days, whenever those are, and promises a finish that bathes in violence and misery.

For more on the band, go here: https://opowis.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://orcd.co/disavowedandlefthopeless

For more on the label, go here: https://translationloss.com/