...by the Force of Sacred Magic Rites...

Australia. The mere mention of the country will have most people start blathering about crustaceans on grilling devices in bad mock accents, but to me personally it is a country with a rich history of hardrock, punk and metal. Whether it is bands like Rose Tattoo, Hobb's Angel of Death, Massappeal or Sadistik Exekution, Aussie bands always seem to test the limits of the genre they are involved in, usually to great results. And Darklord is no exception to this, even if their name is of a pretty obscure nature.

You most probably heard the one of not judging a book by its cover, and that could not be more true when it comes to this release. The sparse black and white layout, barely legible logo and song titles all point to a band in the realm of Darkthrone-y Gorgoroth-isms, and that idea is enforced by the pictures of the individual members. From the back of the cd these three nameless cloaked and corpsepainted individuals are grimacing in my direction in the best Scandinavian black metal tradition, which seems to confirm any earlier preconceptions one might have about the musical direction of this band. Preconceptions that are mercilessly blown to crud after the intro gives way to the first track.

Opposed to the expectations the artwork might have raised, Darklord deal in heavy down-tuned death/grind that has more in common with acts such as Mortician, Torture Crypt and "Onward to Golgotha" era Incantation, crossed with the black/death style of their fellow countrymen of Bestial Warlust, Nazxul and the aforementioned Sadistik Exekution. The riffing is heavy and suitably chaotic, creating a violent maelstrom of distorted noise, forming the backdrop against which the down-pitched vocals go head-to-head with the barrage of relentless percussion. At times this whirlwind of ferocity gives way to slower, more pummeling parts that bring to mind the more stomping parts of Mortician, but they just as easily insert searing guitar leads that shred in the best Floridian death metal tradition, as well as haunting flourishes of keyboard creepiness. On paper this combination may seem like an odd jumble of a mix, but it works damn well in practice!

The production here is fitting for an extreme black/death metal release from the first half of the 90's. Unpolished and dense, yet without sacrificing the integrity of the music. Sure, the overall mix isn't always completely in balance and the electronic drum sound may be overpowering in places, but this adds even more charm and underground spirit to an already battering listening experience. This unrefined sound mix combined with the relentless hammering musical approach and suffocating dark atmosphere makes for one hell of a crushing underground black/death metal experience, not suited for the faint of heart.

This is one of those releases that takes you back to the times when the metal underground wasn't divided into all these different sub-genres it is today. Darklord combine different and perhaps some not so obvious influences into a powerful (and definitely short) package of varied yet crushingly brutal extreme metal that should be able to appeal to fans of the more unpolished strains of black and death metal. Those into bands such as early Beherit, Naked Whipper, Blasphemy and Blood (to name a few) should take notice of this obscure gem of 90's underground brutality, it is simply too good to let it fall from memory.