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| Four bands from the black metal underground present themselves together on this 4-way split CD; two from the U.S. of A. (Kult ov Azazel and Humanicide), one from Sweden (Obitus) and one from France (Thy Lord, not to be confused with the Estonian band with the same name). Already released in 2001, yet we received it a short while ago and don't want to withhold new bands from you, as that is our core value!
There are two bands that stand out; opening acts Kult ov Azazel and Obitus. Two of the four tracks of Obitus are also on their "Coup de Grâce" MCD, although they have been remastered.
Kult ov Azazel opens with furious US black metal in the line of Krieg, Judas Iscariot and Malicious; furious, desperate and primitive! Yet also the slow, heavy parts are mastered in the way it should be! To put it short, one of the more promising true black American bands.
Like said, two of the four of Obitus' tracks have been remastered. Apart from that we got note that the track mentioned as 'Eternal Damnation' is actually 'Endless Dark Tormentors'; the opening track of their "Coup de Grâce" MCD. Fast Swedish black metal for those who like Marduk and Limbonic Art; not so grim, yet very promising...
Weakest band is Humanicide; it sounds underground alright, yet far too simple (especially the drumming) and it totally lacks any feel of grim coldness, a must if you want to play underground dark black metal. Now it comes down to just some punkish old school black metal played without feelings of despair, hate and anger...
Thy Lord from France is a one man project in the veins of the black metal that would never have been there if Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Bathory hadn't there; this music comes out of the dungeons of bands like old Darkthrone and Tangorodrim, yet with lesser impact... And a pity that the sound is mixed in that soft, until 4th track ('Maggots Never Surrender').
End conclusion; two good bands (Kult ov Azazel, Obitus), one weaker brother and one band on the crossroads. See what the future brings, yet at least keep close eye on at least the two good acts... Review by:www.vampire-magazine.com 4 bm bands split, they are: Kult Ov Azazel (USA), Obitus (Sweden), Humanicide (USA) e Thylord (France). Kult Ov Azazel: presents a violent bm, with killer riffs, fast and mid-paced parts, and fucking killer screams. The best song is Garden of Shadows, that mixes traditional bm riffs and the speed of brutal bm. Obitus: to me it's the best band from the split, with a well programmed and super fast drum machine, simple and fast riffs and terrifying (in a good sense) vocals, brutal bm. The song Eternal Damnation stands out, reminding the good times of Darkthrone and Immortal. Humanicide: an ok recording amd with simple and rough songs, on these 6 tracks Humanicide shows their hatred towards humanity with a Misanthropic Crust Black Metal. The catchiest song is Marching Towars Nihil. Thylord: also presents a simple and rough sound, the recording quality is also not one of the best, but the compositions are well done. In short it's a pure Dark Grim Black Metal, and the vocals remind a mix of Vlad Tepes and Warloghe. Bringer of Infernal Scourge stands out. Review by: Octavius De Sade Christcrusher Productions have really gathered something against humanity here. This split CD contain a mix of four satanic black metal bands that wouldn't care for a second if the human race was wiped out. The bands that are gathered on the CD is: KULT OF AZAZEL, OBITUS, HUMANICIDE and the Frech fellows in THYLORD. The band that sticks out the most here is the U.S.A. band Humanicide. With a very poor poduction they deliver 6 primitive hymns of death that pulls down DARKTHRONE from the top of the bad soundquality list. The ray of light(...hehe) on this split is the band OBITUS that mix infernal SETHERIAL/DARK FUNERAL riffs with a couple of melodic and cathy ones. The only "negative" thing about them is that they use a drum machine(I think...). But it's a very well programmed one so you forget that it is a machine after a while. KULT OF AZAZEL is allso a very good band that are focusing on rawness and brutality. I think they have released a fullenght album too, but I'm not sure about that. Thylord plays a very dark type of black metal. in some parts it can allmost be described as death metal. I like them alot actually. Wery head banger friendly! If you are into atmospheric synth based black, this is NOT for you! This is a compilation of total obscurity. Well done "Herr Chemosh"! 7/10 Review by: Mikael of Bestialisk Terror Zine I just received a promo for this cd and i must say it is quite a treat! Lets start w/ : KOA.. hailing from the US. This is, i believe their mCD "order of the fly" tracks plus one song from their "ov evil and hatred" promo. The violence this band spews forth is unrelenting. The 1st song "garden of shadows" is probably their best song, starts of blasting violently then slows a little into some bone crushing riffs, mixed w/ the torturous/growls by Xaphan. This is some of the best KOA stuff i've heard, along w/ some of their songs on the split w/ Krieg (another killer USBM act). 4 tracks! Next up is : OBITUS! For me, this is a real highlight on this disc. hailing from Sweden. This band got compared to darthrone, but i really don't see the similarity. Anyway.. the musick style here is dark and bestial! I think they also use a drum machine as well, which sounds like a machinegun, some ppl may not like this, but it adds more to the chaotic nature. The vocals here remind me of Svest.. i guess because of the echoing (sp?) 4 tracks for this band, the highlights : ALL the tracks! Next is : HUMANICDE - This band plays total misanthropic/black/crust and is damn convincing, everything on here is distored to hell and desecrates all that is human!! This is the 1st time i've heard this band, and i was impressed. Everything is mostly played at mid-paced w/ slightly growly vocals. 6 tracks are layed down here. I look fwd to the next onslaught! Next up is : THYLORD hailing from france. This 1-man band sets him self apart from the other 3 bands. Intro starts off w/ screaming and chaos, followed by "bringer of infernal.." the highlight for this side. The musick here is very dark and grim, and is played at midpaced. The vocals are like a mix of Warloghe and Vlad Tepes. Production here is good, everything can be heard clearly, especially the bass, which is a rare thing in black metal for the bass to be audible. What can i say? This split cd is absoluetly essential if you crave dark/bestial black fukking metal! Hails to christcrusher prod for putting this out, and all the bands for doing a killer job! Review by: eternal_damnation@totaldeath.com It was worth the wait for this split. If you've heard Kult ov Azazel, you will know what to expect. The Kult ov Azazel tracks are all very good, with no weaknesses. The drums are extremely fast, the guitars are brutal and skillful, and the vocals are awesome. You can't go wrong with Kult ov Azazel. Obitus keeps the flame burning with four tracks of intense black metal. All of the songs are great, but Eternal Damnation stands out in my mind as being one of the best songs on the entire cd, and A Day of Gloom is another really good song, with even a bit of a melodic feel. Now, I come to Humanicide. I have never been a big fan of Humanicide, and these six songs did nothing to change my mind. The vocals are pretty good, but the guitars and drums are very sloppy. There are bands like Vlad Tepes who can pull this off, but Humanicide just comes out sounding like shit, in my opinion. They seem to be using a lame punk riff in half the songs, and the spoken part at the end of "The Exclamation" leaves me wondering if they really know what they are talking about. They talk about rejecting the light, and their hatred for humanity, but their reasoning is pathetic, and they try to cover ignorance with childish expletives. I really didn't like these tracks. The last songs are done by Thylord. Where the sound of Humanicide was weak and sloppy, the sound of Thylord is tight and raw, even heavy at times. All the songs by Thylord are very good, but I really liked Unfertilize Mankind. Overall, the split is very good; I am just not into Humanicide. Review by: Necrowolf
Gather Against Humanity, sous-titré Satan's Hordes Shall Rise Again, est une compilation rassemblant quatre groupes aux horizons divers, mais qui officient tous dans le black metal, qui est sortie récemment sur le label anglais Christcrusher Productions. Kult Ov Azazel se charge de débuter les hostilités avec Garden Of Shadows qui nous renvoie directement au ton qui dominait sur son dernier album en date, Triumph Of Fire, à savoir un rythme effréné associé à des vocaux hurlés à l'extrême pour une agression maximale. Et alors qu’on aurait pu penser que tout le morceau perdure dans cette voie toute tracée, un excellent riff mid-tempo vient littéralement casser le rythme et marquer définitivement de son empreinte le reste du titre. Transformation est construit de façon similaire et l’on retiendra particulièrement le riff central, placé stratégiquement entre deux blast beats. Les deux dernières compositions s’inscrivent dans une veine plus classique et n’atteignent pas tout à fait le niveau des deux morceaux précédents, malgré une tentative de proposer des éléments quelque peu inhabituels pour la formation américaine, tel cet intermède acoustique sur Forever Heaven Gone. Second sur la liste, Obitus, originaire de Suède. Le groupe officie dans un registre black metal plus classique, caractérisé par la rapidité du tempo et des guitares qui malheureusement sont accompagnées par une boîte à rythmes quelque peu gênante. La réussite incontestable d’Obitus réside dans son troisième morceau, Eternal Damnation, probablement l’un des meilleurs du cd, dont le rythme particulièrement véloce associé à une mélodie de riff envoûtante constitue une alliance imparable. Alors même si la formation suédoise ne semble pas avoir encore complètement atteint sa maturité, ces quatre titres laissent augurer du meilleur pour l’avenir. Troisième formation à figurer sur Gather Against Humanity, Humanicide, qui nous vient une nouvelle fois des Etats-Unis. Humanicide, c’est un peu le maillon faible de cette compil. Projet parallèle du chanteur d'Open Grave, le groupe évoque Beherit ou Profanatica et les vocaux semblent très inspirés par ceux de Nunslaughter. D’excellentes références donc, mais le groupe ne paraît vraiment pas à la hauteur. La guitare, au son très cru, s’impose sans ménagement mais l’utilisation d’une boîte à rythmes constitue de nouveau un réel handicap. Quant aux compositions, particulièrement basiques et à la limite du punk parfois (le groupe propose d’ailleurs une reprise de Life Erased du groupe de crust Disgust), elles ne déclenchent guère l’enthousiasme. Pour finir, Thylord, un one-man band du sud de la France qui n’en est pas à ses débuts puisqu’il a déjà réalisé plusieurs démos et autres splits. La musique de Thylord se caractérise par l’atmosphère haineuse et noire qui s’en dégage et les titres présents sur Gather Against Humanity, constitués de divers enregistrements composés entre 2000 et 2001, ne sont pas en reste. La production sourde et étouffante, ne paraît guère propice aux envolées lyriques et Thylord assène ses assauts avec conviction, aidé en cela par des vocaux d’écorché vif, et rappelle par moments le groupe Krieg. Mention spéciale à Selfhatred, au riff mémorable, et à Maggots Never Surrender. Thylord est semble-t-il en passe de sortir son premier album sur Black Vault Rekords et Blazing Productions. A suivre de près. Gather Against Humanity constitue donc une compilation certes hétérogène, mais qui comporte son lot de morceaux intéressants et qui, finalement, remplit plutôt bien son rôle. Review by: darkmag.net |