Empress From The Realms of BlasphemyThornspawn |
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Devastation is thy name… Another in the emerging American Black Metal crusade, Thornspawn brings their hammer down in a show of force of such magnitude, the entire state of Texas itself may be cast into the lowly depths of Hell, finally yielding them their independence they once fought so valiantly for. In the near term however, San Antonio-based Thornspawn will bring the Hellfire and brimstone to the surface dwellers as their converts one by one pledge their allegiance to the mighty power below… "Empress From The Realms of Blasphemy" is a bible belting display of pure aggression-Black Metal and Death with no boundaries and few other qualifications to the contrary-following on their "Blood of the Holy… Taint thy Steel" release from the previous year this second offering should indeed please the Gods of the great grimoire and further solidify this molten magma that begun to surface only a few short years ago. And such a pretty mistress, this Empress to grace us with her presence… how could one so beautiful be so deadly? There's little to distinguish the several Black Metal practitioners in an age where such craftsman of the macabre each seek the throne of the Almighty power however, there is plenty of evidence of inferior quality and imitative monotony in spite of blasphemous intent. Thornspawn is among the better of the cast-their stone was as such only a few short years ago and could well be considered up and coming leaders of this ungodly new religion slowly rattling the states down to its britches. Upon further reading, it has come to my attention that this promo actually features the complete "Blood of the Holy…" recording of a year ago interspersed with their new four song EP and while this matters little to the reader-well, I'm enjoying the Hell out of it! But listeners can expect to hear little difference if any-expect no orchestral maneuvering of melodic bit parts meant to emulate the mid-winter's chill of a deep dark forest-while that goes well and defines the many practitioners of the Devil's craft, Thornspawn offer little room for harmony, and in fact, breathing space is at a premium by the time we roll around to track four. "Master of Blood Fury," is in fact the first of the new material and strikes hard and fast at the unsuspecting victim-for the suspecting, bask in the sheer grace and destructive principles which are offered up for your listening enjoyment… holy shit, it's even more aggressive than before! Unyielding in their fury, Thornspawn continues to make inroads on their newest EP as they're foregoing travels down the road to eternal damnation offers little in the way of reticence or resistance. Released by Necropolis Records Review by Vinnie Apicella
[va85@columbia.edu] |