Profanatitas de Domonatia

PROFANATICA- Profanatitas De Domonatia

After seventeen or so years having lapsed since their conception, it is of course interesting how an artist’s work bears its ground, especially after a prolonged period that has seen a rather spontaneous, yet scarce amount of output.

This review is not however to establish whether or not the artists can ‘stand the test of time’ or still ‘have it in them’, but to see that their work can still retain artistic validity.

The answer to this is a triumphant yes, both on a general artistic level and in the opinion of the reviewer.

Profanatica more or less retain their original approach to song writing, which is more or less a hybrid of traditional, hardcore influenced black metal such as Hellhammer and Sarcofago, with the sounds of the mid-to-late 80’s American death metal underground.

However, there are small changes recognisable. One of these is the absence of any guitar solos. The production work is very precise, with a foreboding, thick, ultra-bassy guitar tone, with Paul Ledney’s drums still being versatile, but sounding rather mechanical and compressed, not doing his talents too much justice. This by no means compromises Profanatica’s sound however, but rather helps give it a new dimension, and seeing as this is their first full-length, this only serves to add a cohesion that had previously yet to present itself in any of their earlier works. One might also sense an aesthetical influence similar to the album ‘Joined In Darkness’ by Demoncy.

Ledney’s vocals are still the same, hellish rasp that permeated the band’s earliest recordings (for those unaware, almost sounding comparable to that of Krieg vocalist Imperial). Lyrical topics still focus on sodomy, blasphemy, and the defilement of anything that may be deemed ‘Christian’, a fine alternative to the ‘maturity’ embraced by many long-standing artists who often fail in their efforts to make their output more ‘sensible’.

This is a formidable album in that is very hard-hitting, even at times infectious, upon first listen. It retains all of the virtues that made them a great band in the first place, yet is unafraid to introduce new aesthetics without polluting said qualities.

This “reunion” album from Profanatica delivers the unwholesome delight of the sound of primitive Black Metal the way it was done in the old days. I must confess, whilst fairly enjoyable, the album is a bit forgettable. There are two points here that spoil it – 1 the machined drums, 2 the clean production.

The machined drums are not bad actually – very snappy sounds with held-back percussion, but way too precise for my liking. The production is so clean that one can hear every note and whist the band delivers clean performances, it can be heard that there really isn’t much sophistication to this music.

Nuances! This needs nuances, not just chuggy old-school riffs. There are a few very cool things about the album that make it stand out. Firstly – the guitar tone. Profanatica have not forgotten the old commandment – find thyself a unique tone, it is what made one Black Metal band stand apart from another. The guitars used here are fed through some sort of fuzz effect that has an almost 60’s sound to it. There is absolutely no high-end to them! Like Beherit, they manage to find a chilling, dark guitar sound without making them annoyingly trebly. The other thing I really like is the clean bass rumble they use to dramatically introduce a couple of songs as well as the odd keyboard lick that is always dark and ominous.

A clean production is a pleasing thing to hear, but at the same time, I think it takes away from the primal blasphemous atmosphere this album could have created, had it been recorded live in a shed somewhere.

A quick glance through preceeding reviews reveals the joy Profanatica fans have expressed at their heroes' return. And they are right - if you're into it there is nothing better than a new Profanatica album. But unfortunately this isn't a great album - just slightly above average.

Originally published in Procession of Black Doom zine #3

While the salacious Profanatica fans’ urges were momentarily quelled with the release of the “Enemy of Virtue” compilation, the depraved desires that arose from the mention of a Profanatica full-length could not be subdued - they had to be satisfied. This album not only satisfies these desires, it forces on, heinously ravishing beyond any notion of pleasure - relentlessly penetrating; leaving you torn, violated and bloody. And after you have vomited and cried through the detached sleepless nights, and even though you cannot bring yourself to recollect it, you will come begging back for more.

Not usually that which immediately grabs my attention, but it need be mentioned that the guitar tone on this album is unlike anything I have heard before; possessing an eerie, almost mechanical, dragging that is veiled in bludgeoning distortion – a flawlessly violent and integral facet to this release. Championing through the grinding chaos of tone is the primitive defilement of the guitar itself, severed into discernable structures and patterns, perfectly reminiscent of their predecessors, but encapsulating a spirit of raw power that I feel is truly lacking in most recent attempts at Black Metal. The bass is perfectly prepared and executed on this recording: a deep rattling propagated with an unnatural and blunt buzzing; fairly attributed to the particular brand of picking technique employed by John Gelso. During the many of the faster portions the bass sound is nearly indecipherable, and instead fraternises completely with the guitar; the spawn of this incestuous union is the pristine grinding is straight-forward, bestial minimalism in its most pure and unrefined form.

Profanatica is unapologetic blasphemy in the truest sense; Profanatica does not, and has not, compromised itself to be anything less than a destructive maniacal force that will always be recognised as the embodiment of Hate, Evil, Blasphemy, Desecration, Rape; they will always be the true enemies of virtue: Black Metal

I need say nothing more.

While I’m a fan of Profanatica’s old stuff, this comeback album does nothing for me. “Profanatitas De Domonatia” is in my opinion a totally unnecessary album, since it only disgraces the band’s legacy. While the music itself may not have changed from the old days, the substance seems to be missing totally and that’s what disappoints me the most. The music on this album doesn’t sound nearly as sick and blasphemous as the old Profanatica stuff. Instead it sounds weak and tired, hell, “callous” is the word I’m looking for. I get the feeling that this album was recorded while under the influence of sleeping pills, it’s like there’s a thick fog enveloping the music and everything is moving in slow motion (and this despite the fact that this isn’t doom metal). Perhaps a better way of putting it would be that the music feels severely restrained. Many times it feels like the band are about to go all out and give the listener some pure mayhem like in the old days but it never happens, the music never picks up any momentum. The only track hints at former glories is “Unto Us He is Born”.

The biggest reason for foggy feel of this album is the sound – it just stinks. The drums have a thin and plastic sound to them, which sounds just horrible to me, no power whatsoever. The guitar sound is muffled and only half-distorted, this kind of a guitar sound makes think more of sludge doom or old Black Sabbath records than black metal. In any case the guitar sound is completely unfitting for this type of music.

The riffs are nothing to write home about. In fact, many times it sounds like the band has just borrowed riffs from their older material, reworked them a little and written new tracks based on those old riffs. There’s also a track that’s even more useless than the others: “Them That Dwell in Heaven” is a narrated track where a male voice reads what seems to be passages from the book of revelations. Anyway, the aforementioned track is over three minutes of pure boredom, why not substitute this one with a metal track instead? Then again, in this case it wouldn’t have helped much, since I don’t like this album anyway. “Betrayal of the Lamb” ends the album in an anticlimactic way. An uninspired sludge doom dirge it is, reminding me of the doomy stuff Autopsy did on “Mental Funeral”. There is a blasphemy speech at the end of this song but it’s nothing like the old days. Anyone still remember the “Prayers are burned/covered in black shit.../sodomise the holy asshole... etc.” stuff from the Havohej album? That at least made me crack a smile...

When I heard that Profanatica were finally coming out with a full-length album I was excited. They were such a great band, with their christ destroying black metal sound being rivaled by so few in the genre, that I couldn't help but get my hopes way up. They played the style of Black Metal that I love the most, that is, the type that is fueled by pure hatred, rather than the more sorrow laden stuff perfected by Darkthrone and then copied in 10,000 different ways. For those unfamiliar with them, they are fairly Death Metal-like, and resemble Incantation somewhat (Paul Ledney was a founding member of Incantation). They sound almost like a mix between Beherit and Incantation really, but they are their own band, and are a copy of no one.

I couldn't wait to hear the album, and now that I have, I'm glad to report that I am very happy with it!

The second the intro on the first track, "Master of Man Absolute" stops, you know exactly who you're listening to. These riffs have changed very, very little, if at all, from the old days. We've got pure, black and evil tremolo riffs, mixed with a healthy dose of more midpaced stuff, and some slow stuff here and there, which keeps the album sounding diverse and interesting, as Profanatica always were. Great to hear such fantastic, dynamic riffs in this day and age of so many sound-alike and sub-par black metal bands. The riffs drive this album along furiously, and create the very evil atmosphere which permeates the album completely. Nothing beats hearing these guys pound away, and then slow down with one of their great crushing riffs, while Paul Ledney spews his extreme blasphemy all over the place. His vocals are as killer as ever, a near perfect sound for me, not so screechy it becomes irritating, but certainly throat tearing and violent. The lyrics are frequently intelligible, and as I mentioned they are blasphemous on a level that few bands manage to attain, despite the fact that there are hundreds of bands singing about this same topic. I've always loved the absolute hatred of Christianity that seethes from Ledney, and this one is another monument to his hatred of the foul monstrosity known as Christianity. It gives me great pleasure to hear it done so well once again. The production is better than on their previous stuff, but is still quite raw and gives the album the violent, hellish quality, which Profanatica always had, and I'm glad remains there.

Hell's Headbangers gives us yet another great release, and I for one cannot wait until the vinyl is out!!! Buy it right away if you were a fan of these guys in the past, like Havohej, Incantation, Behehrit, or any other evil, primitive, black and old school death bands.

Profanatica have always been a strange band. A lot is heard about them in the underground, but few hear them. They are as obscure as their releases are hard to find. And now 17 years after their first demo, arrives their first full length album. But does it stand up to their reputation as "The Most Blasphesmous Band on the Planet?"

The answer is a resounding yes. Everything about this album reeks of pure black metal. Endless streams of buzzing tremolo riffs, coughing blasphemous vocals, and intense drumming. It may have taken this band 17 years to craft a full length, but this album is so intensely abrasive and original, that Im sure few will complain about the wait.

Originality is a hard thing to come by in the truest circles of black metal these days, but Profanatica have managed to create an album that while adhering to black metal's strictest of traditions, is also refreshingly different. While many of the riffs are old school in nature, they also carry a dark sense of melody. This is appealing because this band manages not to shun melodicism like many of their more "necro" peers, and at the same time not rely on being overly melodic like the more synphonic black metal bands.

Drummer/Vocalist Paul Ledney's skills are also very noteworthy. His vocals are a raspy, coughing scream, that is both distinct and shockingly evil. His drumming is some of the most appropriate work I've heard on a black metal album. While not overly technical, the drums are incredibly tight, and meld with the riffs in a sinister way. And while he is not too showy, he does play some very impressive fills.

This an album that is not to be missed. Hells Headbanger Records boasted that this is "Easily the best fucking black metal album this year!" But after hearing it, I'll damned if they aren't right.