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Heathen Deity > For the Glory of Satan > Reviews
Heathen Deity - For the Glory of Satan

All hail the god of heathens! - 89%

mutiilator, June 22nd, 2004

For the Glory of Satan marks a successful debut from England's Heathen Deity. Fusing a mixture of Black Metal with Death Metal influences, this ep appears as something original out of an otherwise ignored English Black Metal scene.

The release starts off with a short and rather pointless intro, but gets things rolling with "The Son of Obscurity". The vocals are done in two layers. The main layer is a high pitched scream, which fluctuates down to a hoarse rasp. The second layer is a guttural growl, mainly used as back-up, but seen as the main focus here and there. There is an aspect of technicality which adds to the music, giving it substance. The pace ranges from slow and menacing, to fast and utterly brutal. The band shows off their talent with the morose "Esoteric Eventide" - a wonderful acoustic piece. The fourth track, "To Eve the Lust of Ages" get things going again, and features a killer riff, and some excellent drum work. Part way through the band drops back into another quiet, acoustic piece, purveying a nice atmosphere. "Before the Daylight Mourn" is a faster track as well, again with excellent drum work, and evil-as-fuck vocals. The music slows down for a bit and incorporates some chanted singing, but manages to retain its edge. Again, the band drops back into acoustic levels with "Conru (The Sign of the Horns)", yet another beautifully somber piece. The disappointment with this release is heralded by the final track, "For the Glory of Satan", which is a slower song, but has the guttural growl as the main vocal layer. The music of the track is relatively decent, as the band attempts to end the ep off on a melodic, and perhaps melancholic, note. Yet the vocals ruin it for me (being a hater of 99% of Death Metal). There are some of the screams present, but the growls are just annoying. This somewhat nullifies what was accomplished during the 6 preceeding tracks, but does not ruin it entirely.

Heathen Deity breathes new life into Western European extreme music. If i had to dumb it down for the simpletons, the band would sound like CoF (oh, god no!) if they actually played good, real, true Black Metal. There are few true Black Metal bands from England, but alongside Old Forest, Heathen Deity have taken the crown of their (almost non-existent) underground scene.