Assorted Armament

Earth, man… What a shithole.

IXXI, or simply 9/11, was founded in 2006 by Acerbus (Ondskapt) and the recently deceased Nattdal (Lifelover, Dimhymn, Ondskapt). Together with vocalist Totalscorn (Zavorash), bassist Avsky (Ondskapt), and drummer Selin, they set out to perform violent acts of blackened thrash metal terror. Their self-titled debut was released in the middle of 2007, and despite being a decent piece of black thrash, never saw much attention beyond a side-project of the better known Ondskapt. Half a year later they followed it up with Assorted Armament, seeing Selin replaced by Smoker, and showcasing a band transforming into a multifaceted chimera. The album is being re-released through Osmose as a tie-in with their 2014 comeback effort Skulls N Dust.


From the beginning of “Armageddon Nobility”, IXXI show a significant progression from their debut. Driven by the infectious leads of Nattdal, rock and roll riffs are performed with a dark apocalyptic flair. More black than thrash, the dense atmosphere of death and destruction is supported with sampled warfare, and fronted by Totalscorn’s gravely croaks. Fierce and venomous, he gargles and hacks his way through the various hymns of domination and damnation, peppered with the occasional maniacal cackle. As luck would have it, the seriously catchy riffs and insane growls are a marriage made in hell, cementing IXXI as a war-machine of immense stature and with a sound entirely of their own.

The black thrash attack of Assorted Armament is curbed by a couple of diverging slower pieces. “In The Name Of Nothing” is the first such anomaly. Penned by Nattdal, the sorrowful dystopian atmosphere sounds unmistakably like his brainchild Lifelover. Following the music, the vocals are reduced to subdued mumbling about urban decay and solitude. The pace picks up again with the pounding title-track, with crunchy riffs and squealing guitars in droves. The dictatorial “An Epoch Most Cursed” features more clean vocals, slightly reminiscent of Maniac on A Grand Declaration, though not as outright theatrical. These moments of grandeur helps set IXXI apart from the pack, and was sorely missed on their recent comeback album (which was recorded sans Totalscorn and Nattdal).

Between virulently thrashing numbers like “Hails And Nails” and the elitist manifesto of“Imperial Requiem”, Assorted Armament more than lives up to its name. Not as fast-paced as many of their black thrash counterparts, and far catchier than their black metal backgrounds would suggest, IXXI take the best from both camps and turn their assault rifles upon the world. Whereas the subsequent Elect Darkness saw the band working with a cleaner production and more conventional black and roll riffs, on Armament they found the perfect synthesis of raw and memorable. The album still stands as the strongest of their career, a nihilistic modern tour de force.


Written for The Metal Observer

“Earth man, what a shit hole.” This brilliant intro taken from the Alien franchise consisting of the screeches of rats, underground sewage water sloshing around and the desolate spoken words sets the scene for the rest of the record to accordingly follow in its footsteps. IXXI are a confrontational band, one that sound similar to others, but have their small differences, that may go unnoticed unless you pay particular attention to their engaging sound, given the fact that this band perform and construct their sound around the idea of terrorism and total-fucking-devastation. Generally speaking, I don’t like to use curse, or swear words in my reviews, but nothing seems strong enough to display how F-U-C-K-I-N-G cancerous, grasping or gripping this record truly is. The nature of this sound, similar to that of unknown acts like Italy’s Murk, is to fuse black metal and hard rock together in an enticing manner. The material present here is some of the most fluent I’ve heard within the black metal scene, regardless of sub-genre discussions. The sound is one of pure unadulterated hatred and the consuming temperament of this record almost has me signing up on the dotted line to become a terrorist myself (hyperbole people, don’t complain).

IXXI began their black metal careers on a steady note, producing the self-titled effort which convinced me that this band has enough potential to release a classic of the modern day scene and, well, here it is! This is the classic that so many people have been waiting for. Although it isn’t a return to the old days, since, you know, there is some creativity and experimentation thrown into the tempestuous mixture, but it does invoke nostalgic and reflection which makes me think back to the so-called glory days of the industry, where bands like Darkthrone still sounded good and Varg hadn’t just been released from prison after committing a heinous crime. The old school vibe doesn’t necessarily mean this Swedish band sound aged or outdated, in actual fact, that sound fresher than 95% of the bands around today! The apt title, ‘Assorted Armament’ is phonetically expressive of the sorts of imagery this imaginative piece conjures up. In my head, as this record furiously pounds away, the musicians are using their instruments as weapons and their sound is mentally damaging just like a terrorists actions are physically damaging.

The subtle reference to the 9/11 attacks on New York probably won’t sit well with people who were directly affected by the incidents, or anyone who takes a firm stance on the events of that horrific day in history, but taken with a pinch of salt and the realisation that this is music, it isn’t physically damaging unless people take it out of context, then this is one of the most enjoyable records since the turn of the century and perhaps even beyond that, if we’re going to make bold statements. The content consists of some of the best black metal songs I’ve heard, or at least, can remember in the past few years. Although bands like Altar of Plagues and Fen, both of which I greatly enjoy, are pushing the envelop with new and adventurous sounds, IXXI like to take a more traditional route, opting to stick to what black metal is known for (despite the fact that IXXI use a crisp production to highlight the finely tuned aspects of the underbelly and the surface material), although they do make a habit of enforcing their lyrical content on to people, making this aspect of their game perhaps a bit more of an issue than it was in the early to mid 1990’s when the lyrics didn’t mean as much as the music and the plaudits were rightfully given to the instrumentation, as opposed to lyrical worship.

The lyrical themes of terrorism and warfare don’t only come across in the actual lyrics, but the physical play too. The instrumentation can be compared to some of the better known ‘raw’ acts of the second wave, where instrumentation meant a lot more than the lyrical content, though that had its advantages too; such as being able to portray the themes in a different manner. I don’t exactly consider the lyrical content imperative to IXXI however, although it does play a role in constructing the sound, I do believe it is a suitable reflection of their inquisitive and intoxicating sound. The major upside to this record is the crisp production. It gives a physical presence to the instrumentation, as if the guitars are literally punching you in the guts and the drums are physically pounding you to the ground in search of forgiveness and eventual mercy. There is no let up from the instrumentation. The guitars are a notable aspect of how IXXI don’t like to take their foot of the gas, instead, they press on from one lead to another, both displaying their awesome prowess and physical power. Listening to this record can be equated to trying to stand up to a professional fighter, you’re never going to knock it because it will sure as hell knock you harder.

The production is fantastic at highlighting the essence of the record - which exists in the sense of power. The guitars are given two types of heavy distortion. One which separates the first and second guitarist, allowing one to play a significantly higher pitched lead, and the other a lower, more demonstrative piece of the power behind the infectious guitars. The standard of play is fairly typical of black metal bands - one guitarist leads the more creative passages, whilst the other lays foundations alongside the audible bass. However typical this approach may be, when its performed correctly and creatively, there is no stopping its Trojan like ways. This war machine in the shape of IXXI, intent on devastation and destruction, is forceful and frighteningly catchy - a major positive of this black n’ roll effort. Songs like ‘Armageddon Nobility’ and ‘That We May Kill the Mocking World’ are the prime examples as they fly through the realms of catchiness with powerfully streaming guitars that lay down monstrous soundscapes. There are no superlatives left for this one. Essential.

I decided to check out IXXI (whose name is intended to be a subtle reference to 9/11) after stumbling upon them randomly on the Archives. This came about when I noticed that TotalScorn (TS) was providing vocals for a band I had never heard of before. For those not in the know, TS is the vocalist for the stellar nihilistic black metal band, Zavorash, who also hail from Stockholm and who boast the mighty Necromorbus (of whom should need no introduction) on drums. Similar to Zavorash, IXXI pump out thick, evil metal, but with much more of a thrash influence than previously seen on Zavorash’s fantastic demo and full-length. This translates to a lot more moments of heavy groove, head-banging goodness, with grinding riffs, complimenting leads, and pounding mid-paced, militant drumming. Still, blast beats are dispersed nicely throughout, and the consistent drumming provides a strong backbone to the rest of the music. Also characteristic of this type of music are samples and effects, which, when thrown in, create additional atmosphere on top of the already strangulating tension that builds as the album progresses.

Trademark of both TS’s bands are his vocals. Though not as deep and theatrical as with Zavorash, his throaty growls/snarls are what set him apart from most other higher-pitched BM vocalists. They also work extremely well with music so void of warmth and positive affect that I think that if you switched him with any other vocalist, the music would lose its edge. The lyrics, most, if not all of which, are written by TS are relatively incomprehensible with his singing style, but definitely worth reading for their facetious nature (which one would expect from a band whose name references terrorism). As well, not all of the songs are upbeat and relentless, and “In the Name of Nothing” is a good example of a gloomier, down-tempo track, with TS providing clean vocals that still manage to retain his insanely deep voice. Although nihilistic music is typically pretty gloomy as is, these slower moments and clean vocals go beyond bleakness, dividing the album up nicely with – dare I say – beautiful bouts of moroseness.

Zavorash are currently on hold, as TS and Necromorbus have so many projects going on at the same time. Hopefully this will mean that TS can focus on IXXI for the time being because I definitely like what I hear so far. Although I have yet to hear their other release, Assorted Armament is an amazing example of how black metal is still alive in bands that are willing to stray from the tired and overused formula. Not to say that mixing in thrash elements is original, since that is how BM began in the first place, but with such misanthropic atmosphere, catchy and dark music, and TS’s amazing vocals, it’s hard not to give this album a good rating.