Darkness has been a major part of the black metal kingdom since the day it first bubbled out of the cracks in the earth, sickening a heavy music world that didn’t know how to contend with such a force. As time has gone on and the decades piled up, things changed, the edges were smoothed out, and the music became more digestible.
But there are those that remain committed to the raw, harsh power of black metal, and Philly’s Unholy Altar is one of them, and they’re ready to deliver their scathing first full-length “Veil of Death! Shroud of Nite.” Over nine tracks and a little under a half hour, the band—vocalist Desecrator, guitarists Miserer and Evoked Damnator, bassist Cadaver, drummer Lucifer’s Rage—stokes the sub-genre’s fires that have been burning for three decades and add their own brand of fuel. Examining the dualities of the natural world, they add some new textures and tones from what we heard on their 2022 demo. But the unforgiving darkness remains, and while they intend to smear some light into the music, this is pitch black, infernal, and so goddamn mighty.
“Intro” leads you into the carnage with plucked strings and a dark angelic haze, sounds swirling in the air toward “Abaddon,” which I wish was about the pro wrestler of the same name. Vile shrieks explode from the start, the playing destroying with fiery pressure, the viciousness and sense of evil flooding to the surface. Funereal melodies slip behind the dark curtain, torching to a hellish end. “Black Winds of Nocturnal Dismay” is moody at first, and then it bludgeons, the vocals lacerating, mangling with reckless abandon. Riffs cascade as lightning-fast punishment is served generously, howls crushing as the tornadic pace drills into the ground. “Infernal Flesh” explodes with blistering riffs, the assault trampling and destroying, the scars burned into your bones. The playing slips into intense humidity, a blinding explosion knifing dangerously for your neck.
“Treachery of the Common” simmers in sullen guitars and a more mid-tempo pace, letting you breathe even though you know another beating awaits. Howls erupt as the guitars manage to find even darken tones, feeling caustic and even dreamy in the most nightmarish of senses. “Sin Eater” totally destroys, the shrieks scalding as the guitars jam the gas pedal through the floor. Riffs encircle as the drums blister, a murky ambiance swallowing hope as Desecrator slashes with her devastating screams, every element racing to the finish. “Nefarious” is a crusher, the melodies flying at you like a microburst, the harshness becoming a bigger factor and chewing into muscle. The atmosphere begins to squeeze your brain, hypnotic guitars twisting, the heat dying down and slipping into a haze. “Pestilence” dawns in the midst of insanity, ripping guts, forcing poison into your veins as the shrieks mangle. The leads take off as the assault grinds you under their wheels, attacking and leading trails of blood and flesh behind. The closing “Outro” boils in strange keys and a horror-filled haze, leaving you in a sense of morbid disorientation.
Unholy Altar call “Veil of Death! Shroud of Nite” a “dance between darkness and light,” but you got to do a lot of searching to find pinpoints of illumination in these coal-mine-dark creations. That’s a good thing, as this raw, nasty black metal has the tenets of the sub-genre’s earliest, ugliest days and takes that beastly spirit into the future. This is a band that’s just getting its tentacles around its devastating powers, and as this ghoulish force continues to grow, future massacres promise to be bloodier and more relentless.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Unholy-Altar-100091394706562/
To buy the album, go here: https://unholyaltar666.bandcamp.com/album/veil-of-death-shroud-of-nite
For more on the label, go here: https://www.liminaldreadproductions.com/
Meat Mead Metal 