Heavy metal has a track record for lashing back at power structures and pissing all over those who try to keep others down for their own means. Which makes it weird when fascist bands start popping up because it’s like, didn’t you read the memo? We know you got it. We all did. You didn’t read it, did you? Well, maybe get back to us when you do.
Holland’s brain-twisting metal machine Terzij de Horde is not letting that whole questioning power go to waste, and they examine that very thing on their three-track new record “In One of These I Am Your Enemy.” Ever since there were people, those at the top have tried to crush those beneath them lest they one day have to let other folks have a chance. There is so much involved, layers that have to be examined, people who don’t want others to explore for answers, and that builds a societal and political structure that’s nearly impossible to overcome. The band—vocalist Joost Vervoort, guitarists Demian Snel and Jelle Agema, bassist Johan van Hattum, drummer Richard Japenga—does try to get underneath that dirt and filth on this, their second full-length album, and they do so with elements of death and black metal, atmospheric chaos, and striking violence that squeezes the blood from your veins.
“Cheiron” kicks off the record, and it’s the shortest track of the three, lighting up and destroying as it picks up speed. Vervoort’s shrieks slice through glass as fluid melody floods, and then things rampage harder, guitars clashing and the playing rampaging to its finish. The title track follows, an 11:37-long mangler that storms in with piercing vocals, a humid feel, and playing that pummels hard. Manic shrieks and an industrial blender of a pace whips through, howls echoing in the sky, the richly melodic playing flooding your senses. Things turn darker, the playing takes in a rubbery Voivod vibe, everything tangles dangerously as guitars ramp up, and the cloud cover leaves a strange pall.
“Precipice” is the 13:56-long closer, and starts with mournful colors bleeding in before the shrieks scar, and the track slowly melts toward rapture. Anguish and devastation combine as the heat increases, as does the speed, and things tunnel into the underworld as the journey gets more harrowing. Pressure continues to multiply as the forceful cries punish, guitars dizzy and chug, and the rumbling increases, making your footing impossible. The vocals cave your will, relentless playing keeps firing, and the final assault is mounted and buries everything deep into the dirt.
The world always has been torn apart by ruling forces that put their importance and worth on things, and that’s a battle that never will go away. Terzij de Horde capitalize on that and amplify that struggle on “In One of These I Am Your Enemy,” a title to a complicated and compelling record that’ll make you think about where you stand in all of this. This is raucous, it’ll cause the contents of your stomach to swish hard, and you’ll leave this battle bruised and battered but maybe with a few answers.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/terzijdehorde
To buy the album, go here: https://consouling.be/release/in-one-of-these-i-am-your-enemy
Or here: https://shop.tartarusrecords.com/
For more on the label, go here: http://consouling.be/
And here: https://tartarusrecords.com/
Meat Mead Metal 