The World, the Flesh & the Devil

Kult ov Azazel is a usbm band that has been around for quite some time, and even though they've had a lengthy tenure this is the first time i'll be hearing them. What immediately put me off with The World, The Flesh, and The Devil is how over produced and bland this band sounds. Seriously every song sounds the same, it's just a constant barrage of blast beats with no substance what so ever.

I'm a huge fan of bands like Profanatica, Blasphemy, Beherit, and Revenge so don't think I don't like the more brutal end of black metal. Kult ov Azazel sounds like none of these bands, and unlike any of the aforementioned bands they don't have any identity. The only two comparisons I can think of to represent what I am trying to convey here are Dark Funeral and legion-era Marduk.

This album is just way to over produced in my book. Every instrument sounds flat and those fucking drum triggers are awful. The drum sound in particular is very distracting, they are right up front in the mix and everything else is buried underneath, so all your hearing is CLICKCLICKCLICK! The drummer is also too flashy there is no reason too play a fill every measure, this isn't progressive rock or jazz it's black metal.

The vocals are also awful, there is no emotion behind them. Seriously, in most black metal I know the vocals represent anger, depression, and flat out insanity, not here it's just one constant high shriek that sounds forced. The vocalist reminds me of Emperor Magus Caligula from Dark Funeral they have the same tone. There are some cool melodies and some decent riffs, but these moments are few and far between. I can't remember where, and I don't have the desire to go back and check either.

This album failed to keep my attention, I found myself bored with some songs halfway through them! The World, The Flesh, and The Devil wouldn't be so bad if there was better songwriting, no drum triggers, and a better production that fit the music better. I will take a listen to another album by these guys just to see if I found a black sheep in their discography. I'd hate to have my opinion of any band ruined by one album. I mean just think how awful that would be if all we knew from Celtic Frost was Cold Lake.

I gave this album a 20 because I flat out didn't like it, but there are a couple good things to mention. This isn't just kids banging on instruments though, it does take a lot of endurance and a certain degree of skill to play that fast and to create certain melodies. I'm not saying that these guys are incredible musicians, it's just you have to give them credit because I can't hand a guitar to anybody and say play this! There are some decent riffs like I mentioned before and the artwork and layout is cool so I guess it's not all bad. I would just avoid this album on the whole, it's just not that good.

As time and albums passes by..this band is sounding more and more like Marduk (not that its a bad thing of course).
The World, The Flesh & The Devil gives you earth-shattering vocals, brutal riffings and outstanding endless double-bass pounding drumming fillings which is nothing new to the band if you have been listening to kult of azazel.
the guitar riffings are now more melodic and structured and talking abt the drumming , apart from the super-fast beats , take note of the drummer's work with the cymbals. Amazing. A definite improvement from the last two albums.
Just as people concluding america's bm being almost non-existent (except grand belial's key and judas iscariot) , here comes kult of azazel with their blasphemical jesus-trampling album.

Favourite tracks are many like "The world is full of violence" , "an eternity with satan" ,the well-structured "Trampling the cross" , and very catchy but addictive "As the temples burn" which have the strongest familiarity with Marduk's creations.

After listening to the whole album , i have a constant urge to listen to my favourite kult of azazel 's "Garden of shadows" track from order of the fly album.Somehow i missed the rawness of the song. But The World, The Flesh & The Devil is a definite spectacular album nonetheless , their best album to date. Order of the fly is great but The World, The Flesh & The Devil has much more amazing tracks.

I am looking forward for their next album and i'm not surpised if the whole album sounds like Panzer Division Marduk.

Don't be fooled by the commercially-crafted cover art of the album , this album is all purely filled with hate , defiance and satan-worshipping.
A must-have for bm fans out there.