Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Tsatthoggua > Hosanna Bizarre > Reviews
Tsatthoggua - Hosanna Bizarre

Erratic - 60%

Felix 1666, October 15th, 2017
Written based on this version: 1996, CD, Osmose Productions

Osmose Records once was a guarantor for highly exciting, really groundbreaking black metal. Immortal, Impaled Nazarene, Master's Hammer, Marduk... do you need more legendary names that indicate the importance of this idiosyncratic French company back in the nineties? Tsatthoggua was one of their lesser known signings and I don't want to blame my German fellows, but it did not come as a surprise that "Hosanna Bizarre" and its successor failed to have a great impact. Come closer, because I can only whisper the following, slightly embarrassing sentence. Shush! The guys were prone to cheap showmanship.

Yes, the drums of "Niemals geboren" - to pick out one single piece arbitrarily - deliver hyper-speed hammering, but this does not mean that they score with a massive sound. Tsatthoggua walk the fine line between somehow expressionist black metal and grindcore-esque eruption. The entire album is noisy and slightly molesting while suffering from stupid intermezzos (heavy breathing under a gas mask...) at the same time. Doubtlessly, the will to create total chaos is at the expense of atmosphere. Only keyboard lines create occasionally ambiance - but black metal needs a higher quantum of atmosphere. Otherwise it feels like a Napalm Death song without these mentally disturbed pig squeals: maybe acceptable, but not the real thing. Yet these guys wanted to shock, regardless of the consequences. An affinity for provocation motivated the dudes, just have a look at the pretty shitty artwork. (By the way, why is your ear so close to my mouth? Please keep the proper distance or do you think I whisper?)

It's sad, but what needs to be said is that the song-writing talent of the horde remained modest. They had many ideas, but they were not really able to put them together in a clever manner. Many tunes suffer from a wild yet incoherent mix. They are simply too erratic. The title track begins with a great riff, simple but clearly defined and powerful. Yet the longer the song lasts, the more crude parts and abrupt breaks show up. At the end, one is confronted with a torn number which has its charm due to some nice details (a short spooky staccato of the keyboards leaves its mark), but more experienced musicians would have found a better format for this conglomerate of blast beats, hysterical, shrill screams, violent guitars and brief melodic throw-ins. It's obvious: Tsatthoggua intended to define a new degree of extremity, but they were just loud, blatantly gimmicky, slightly moronic and stubborn while setting the wrong focus. "Hosanna Bizarre" has its moments, but instead of creating the best possible compositions, the dudes loved to offer primitive shock effects for the devout grandma or the uptight Babbit next door. Some sections are really fascinating, for example the first metallic part of "Worm of Sin". But after all, an overloaded, relatively nonsensical chunk of metal remains. The boundaries between the single pieces become blurred and only chaos remains.

Of course, catchiness is no essential element for this kind of music, but I wish I could say that there are at least a few catchy parts. Far from it. Tsatthoggua integrate eerie sequences, female voices, malignant nagging and their guitar lines are influenced by Swedish death metal from time to time (listen to the closer in this context), but they simply forgot that it is not forbidden to write some fragments which keep sticking in the listener's mind. The four musicians don't play "all against all", nevertheless, a coherent overall picture does not arise. "Hosanna Bizarre", whose production reaches a solid level, is therefore a record with some light, but with a lot of shadows as well. And it is definitely not breathtaking. One can breathe deeply and naturally when listening to this extrovert and partially childish debut. And this is the case even when wearing a gasmask.

One of the best extreme metal releases I've heard - 90%

EmperorKO, April 30th, 2004

Tsatthoggua's style is sure to elicit outcry from the more extreme kult black metal fans out there. Borrowing heavily from death, thrash and speed metal, they pass on creating the moody, grim, ambient texture characteristic of many black metal artists, instead focusing on creating an extremely raw, loud, distorted and flat-out brutal buzzsaw guitar and drum attack that builds to a veritable wall of noise. Occasionally intershot with strange sound samples, chants and even synth breakdowns, they give you a break from the onslaught just long enough to catch your breath before they hit you with another pulverizing multi-instrumental attack. The vocals range from piercing razorblade shrieks to gutteral growls, and often include a female vocal harmony or chant as an offset. In short, if you're looking for the most kult, necro, grim, emotional, etc. etc. black metal you can find, this ain't the place. What you're in for here is more of a generally extreme metal style, similar to an Impaled Nazarane, or what Zyklon is doing with their stuff, albeit a hell of a lot LOUDER and arguably angrier.

The band's self-described "hyperspeed" style is a bit of a misnomer, or at most a bit misleading. Yes, they do play extremely fast during some passages, but I wouldn't call it "hyper;" I've heard many bands that play faster. The speed comes primarily from the (very impressive) blast drumming, and the Dissection-like ability to cram as many riff and tempo changeups into a single song as possible. Honestly, Tsatthoggua jams more riffs into a single 3 minute song than your average nu-metal band could get into an entire album.

Lyrically is where the band shows why they're characterized as black metal. Tsatthoggua focuses less on traditional black metal themes of black magic, pagan mythology and generalized evil and more on the humanistic side of anti-christian satanism. The lyrics are indeed very sex-obsessed, and focus on rebellion against the constraints of christian morality through celebrating the impulses that make us human, primarily lust and gluttony. "Dionysos' Ecstasy," "Hosanna Bizarre," and "Intrude into Immortality" offer the strongest celebrations of the theme, while "Heirs of Fire," "2000 V Kum," "The Belief - The Lie" and "Worm of Sin" are pure rants against christianity in general. I admit I have no clue what "Seventh Solitude" is about because it's written poetically, nor do I have any idea what "Niemals Geboren" is about, considering it's in German.

As far as the overall quality of songs, I'm not overly crazy about the first track, "Heirs of Fire" because it breaks the mold of the rest of the album - it seems to kick in all at once and maintain a singleminded breakneck speed without much variation following a very out-of-place intro consisting of African drum beats. I just don't get it. "2000 V Kum" is slightly better, though it still suffers from a fairly straightforward breakneck pace and an abrupt ending in the middle of nowhere. Once you get into "Niemals Geboren," the album is all gold from there on out. From there it goes into "Intrude into Immortality" and "Hosanna Bizarre," my two personal favorite tracks on the album, providing a powerful trilogy of distorted riffing madness. This thing makes you furious and makes you want to headbang yourself unconscious, provided you can figure out the rhythm from one spastic riff shift to the next.

Altogether my only criticism is that the songs are way too short. The entire album is only 33 minutes long, and many of those minutes are taken up by eerie synth intros, horny moaning, ambient sound effects or repeated German quotes I can't understand. Taken as a whole, however, you'll barely notice the down times because of the sheer mastery of arrangement shown on this release. This album personifies everything I love about the extreme metal scene, from black, to death to speed metal and more. A definite keeper. Somewhat tought to find, but well worth the effort.