Black Devotion

Czechs Inferno are worthy of veteran status in the black metal department, having been around since 1996. They’ve been quite productive as well, “Black Devotion” being their fifth full-length album besides four live albums, two “best of” compilations, three EPs, two demos and fifteen (!) split releases. If that’s not a kvlt discography statistic, what is?

“Black Devotion” is my first encounter with this band, and I have to say I hope it’s not the last. Inferno play straight-up black metal, no excuses – and they do it damn well. For the most part, they’re going straight forward like a freight train without brakes, and they’ve got a good fucking driver as he can steer them in the right direction even at a furious pace. Now, what does that mean in Non-Metaphorical? Well, the Karviná Hraniceans’ (yes, that’s where they’re from) instrument handling skills are immaculate as everything is flawlessly executed and they still manage to create a nice and evil groove as a band, and they have done a great job arranging the songs to find a good balance between harsh and melodic parts.

Everything about this record sounds very 90s, which is a good sign in my book. The chord progressions, harmonies, melodies and drum beats remind me of the good ole darken days of yore when Dark Funeral’s self-titled EP, Marduk’s first albums and especially the BM crown jewel “De Mysteriis dom Sathanas” were the hot shit. No matter what kind of music the band comes up with – dissonant tremolo licks, soaring and harmonic melodies or evil and nasty thrash riffing – it all goes through the Filter Of Satan and comes out blackened and taints the very air by its presence, and plants the seeds of emerging strength through the dark arts in the minds of anyone who happens to hear it. Some are strong enough of mind to both perceive and analyze the message, and fewer still are able to make use of the black energy passed onto them, to revitalize themselves and purify their minds through it, and to use it as a tool for aiding their journey to ascendancy, to divinity.

If pure, malignant, well-played, harsh and melodic black metal sounds anything up your alley, give “Black Devotion” a try. This is how it should be written. This is how it should be done.

“Fuck Off Nowadays Black Metal!” We all know it, that Engrish-esque diatribe from that Germanic whack-job Kanwulf, and while such mentality was, at the time, giggle-inducing, who knew that such a bizarre little Deutsche bag could very well have been on to something? Back in the 90s, however, this disheartening condemnation was a bit unfairly utilized, as the second and third wave that struck Europe like a Dutch bong hit gave the listening public plenty of fantastical bands and musicians, both the ones who kept the unholy fires a-burnin’ (HECATE ENTHRONED, WATAIN) and those who took the style into strange and new directions (VINTERSORG, SOLEFALD). ‘Course, I would be rather loathe to quote Mr. Kanwulf, but if there would be any time period his little adolescent rant would make the most sense it would have to be, well, nowadays, as many newer, post-millennial bands that slap on the corpse-paint and growl their evil little hearts out don’t have what it takes to run along with the big dogs.

With this in mind, and with a bit of hope that SOMEONE will cut through the dross of maddening tedium, I took to this INFERNO band…

One thing that helps INFERNO differentiate themselves from the other hell-borne groups out there now is, from what I can hear, their ability to be a band in this day and age that is able to invoke that older, grave desecrating sound in a natural way rather than forcing it out. This comes to play the best in both the performance, which takes those wickedly evil minor guitar chords, monstrous blast beats and pretty well-performed grim vocals to a déjà vu capacity, and the production, which is neither overly mechanical nor tape-hissy. The bulk of the album is shown best when coupling soul-crushing brutality and spine-tingling melody, shouldering the best aspects like mighty Atlas himself. While not reinventing black metal in any way, INFERNO’s latest offering nevertheless conjures up some very superb metallic blasphemy within the realm of the most name-dropped rank and file the genre at one time had to offer; elements of vintage GORGOROTH, pinches of faster DISSECTION, dashes of Demonaz-era IMMORTAL…all done with that necessary venom and attention to detail that reminds this listener of the burgeoning “Orthodox black metal” thing going on in Sweden (maybe these guys could end up inadvertently becoming part of that movement…we’ll have to see). And while this sort of thing doesn’t really scare the shit out of listeners in this day and age, this still brings to life those days when the forests of Norway were an unholy war zone, not at all containing the annoying elements that make more modern black metal acts so vitriolic on the ol’ ear drums, to which I give utmost credit. Prime examples of the best the album has to offer is many, from the heavier side of “Holy Poison” and “Alter of Perversity”, to the slower aspects of “Superior Will” and “Loyalty of Honour”, more than enough to show these noisy, static-laden kids out there how to knock ‘em dead.

In the end I was quite surprised by this. Thankfully these guys don’t invoke the wrath of this BM old-timer, and this will end up being something I’ll partake in for times to come.

While I may not hold them in the same regards as a Root or Master's Hammer, Inferno is nonetheless one of the finest traditional Czech black metal bands. If you're looking for a fix of Satanic darkness, you can usually count on this band to deliver, especially their full-length releases, of which Black Devotion is the 5th.

The album begins with a haunting "Prolog", harsh percussive synths dusting up an ethereal, ambient backdrop. "Superior Will" crashes forth with catchy Norse riffing, a sick verse with Adramelech's excellent, hostile vocals and some truly biting guitar lines. Next, "Whisper of Hope in Bloody Tears" explodes, blasting occult madness with a great guitar bridge. "Holy Poison" is another fast paced crusher, as is the careening "Eaten by Rats Forever". "Loyality of Honour" is anchored by another of the slower, creepy riffs like "Superior Will", and "Sign of Hell" is a thrust of carnal, abysmal fury. The rest of the album is very listenable, constantly dark. This is basically what 1349's latest album could have sounded like had they decided not to suck.

Black Devotion sounds ominous and primed for wrist-cutting or hanging yourself from the nearest noose. It's musical enough to maintain your interest, though it does not depart from any tried or true black metal formula (the band never has). If you're looking for some solid, no-frills black metal in the vein of Swedish and Norse bands like Emperor, 1349, Dark Funeral, etc, then Inferno will certainly appeal to you.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com