Demon Seed

The typical black/death band will take aspects of bands like Deicide and Cannibal Corpse, throw in some Dimmu Borgir style keyboards, and call it a hybrid. Azarath takes the black/death idea to a new level, combining aspects of brutal death metal bands like Gorgasm with the chaotic, minimalistic musicianship of black metal bands like Darkthrone. This is one of the few bands I've listened to which effectively combines the black and death metal aspects without sounding like Gothenburg death. The lyrics are misanthropic and call for the annihilation of mankind, which is often a topic accompanied by dark, slow, atmospheric music. Azarath manages to pull off these themes with the aggressive brutality they deserve. There are some great tracks on this album as well, particularly Heaven's Light Demise and Traitors. Taedium Vitae is a nice track which contains a segment of Beethoven's 9th Symphony accompanied by the sounds of blades scraping against each other and cutting through human flesh, concluding in a series of heart-wrenching screams leading into the next track. To sum it all up, this is an album that could bridge the gap between black metal hating goregrind fans and the kvlt black metal fans who refuse to listen to anything beyond Darkthrone, Burzum, and Bathory worship.