The Law of the Strong

Dawn Of Azazel is one of those bands that you can't write off. One may see them as either pushing the envelope of death metal forward or as tossing it back to the stone age. There is no middle ground with a band like this. Now I listened to this after Sedition, which is probably why I excused it, since Sedition is great. But, since this is not a review for Sedition, I will move on.

This is a very brutal release, perhaps a bit too brutal as an introduction to this band. It is a directionless attempt at death metal that descends quickly into chaos and never finds its way out, which may alienate quite a few people. Although there was no intended atmosphere, the aforementioned chaos provides quite the bit of atmosphere for this particular album. The album feels like a war with two very disorganized factions that appear to have no clue as to what is going on, be it with themselves or the other side. Any semblance of organization or coherency on this album gets quickly destroyed by an onslaught of sudden time and riff changes, much like a war strategy gone horribly wrong. They did not seem to know what they wanted to, as they had so many different variations of death metal within each song. there are bits of slam, technicality, brutality, and whatever else they could fit into each song. Other than to create a chaotic, disorganized album, I cannot see why the band released The Law of the Strong.

There is no clear lead instrument in this album. There are no time signatures. There are no riff patterns. Hell, even the screams seem largely out of place on this album. Slam riffs put next to technical riffs, mixed with blasts and fills Yet it is apparent that through all the chaos they all know how to play their instruments very well. It all appears to be a wall of noise at first, but through that wall of noise is a firestorm of anger and discontent towards the establishment (essentially calling for chaos, which is ironic, seeing that his day job is keeping the order as a New Zealand constable). The hatred is spewed in all directions like diarrhea squirting out of an ass without a toilet. Yeah, they aren't a very tolerant band. But this just adds to the chaotic feel of the album, despite going slightly overboard with it.

It's very hard to make sense out of The Law of the Strong. But it should not be any other way. This was meant to be chaotic and it damn well is. This may have been a highly critical review, but I can say that Dawn Of Azazel has definitely achieved what they set out to do. Make a senselessly chaotic and brutal album that is abrasive and slightly unnerving on first listen and just plain brutal and in-your-face for all future listens. A band like this begs to be heard and they shall be heard. Give this a listen or The Law of the Strong will be imposed on you.

...And Hear The Lamentations Of The Women!


So begins Dawn Of Azazel's first full-length album, and a more effective intro simply doesn't exist. After a couple of promising demo's and a well-received 7" EP, EnZed's masters of abusive musical chaos have finally unleashed The Law Of The Strong upon an unprepared and unsuspecting world. This is one of the most vicious, slaughtering pieces of chaos ever pressed to plastic - and it still doesn't come close to capturing the sheer fury of their live assault. But that's another story altogether...

Every song here carries a similar feel - that of a spiked gauntlet smashing your teeth through your brain and out the back of your skull. Rolling, pulverizing drum abuse cascades underneath a searing thunderstorm of technical guitar/bass abuse, while the vocals saw away like an enraged pitbull. Savage is barely an adequate word to describe this thing - it goes beyond most established levels of musical ferocity. There's the occasional catchy bit such as the crushing groove that permeates "Triumph Upon Equinox" and the majority of the epic "Justice Is A Fist", but overall it's full bore blast-beat mayhem all the way. Then there's the curveballs they throw in just to shock you even more, such as the howling screams in the middle of "Victory (Iniquity Guides My Blade)" and the mordant death-march that
kicks off the monumental closing track "Monarch Of Bloodshed And Eternal Victory (Solar Invictus)".

As far as comparisons go, think of a blood-frenzied cage-fight between Pete Helmkamp, Trey Azagthoth and several members of Blasphemy and you're halfway there. These lunatics will be touring Europe later in 2004, and if you have the means to get to any of the shows, then you'd damn well better. Even if it involves selling vital organs or family members. Trust me, you won't miss them while you're cowering under the horrendous ferocity of Dawn Of Azazel's live attack. And if that proves impossible, just buy the damn CD and prepare to be crushed to a mushy pulp in the comfort of your own home instead.