Hexorcist / Putrid - Profane Coronation

HEXORCIST / PUTRID - Profane Coronation (GODZ OV WAR - 7"split EP 2022)

Would you fancy to hear another killer split 7"EP? Godz ov War Productions comes with a helpful hand and delivers Hexorcist and Putrid on a "Profane Coronation" split. Well, it was one of those releases, which I preordered without hesitation. I know both bands from their full albums. Hexorcist's debut LP "Evil Reaping Death" was absolutely brilliant and knocked me out for good when I first heard it, so another recording from them was an instant "must have". The Floridian four-piece doesn't disappoint, obviously, “Demistifying the Unspeakable” is just as fierce and insanely savage as Hexorcist's earlier material. It brings again that "Altars of Madness" type of morbid metal of death to the table, with a hint from Sadistic Intent – well, you know what I mean. But Hexorcist doesn’t sound lame or useless. Their music is savage, it has enormous lethal power and I just love that harsh and dark, uncompromising sound it has. Crushing stuff. For their part of the 7” they included also Morbid Scream cover, who were an old thrash metal band from Texas, with a couple of obscure demos released in the late 80’s. Well, I’ve never heard of them (I think), but “Face of Death” by Hexorcist is a crusher.  

Putrid from Peru strikes with "March Over Ashes" and "The Wolf Manifesto" and from the very first second, their music unleashes a relentless and brutal force with intensity, which makes it sound like a fuckin bulldozer. It just destroys everything around. This stuff is an outburst of evil energy, fast, uncompromising, raw and bestial. It’s slightly in the vein of Angel Corpse and similar legions (Impiety and so on), if I had to make any comparisons… And they should take that as a compliment. I worship such stuff, so Putrid is up my street, too. Especially that the music is so damn great, with killer riffs, demonic vocals and just proper harsh, yet aggressive production. Yeahhh, those who know me may remember that I am fan of South American death metal, and that includes Putrid too. 

Verdict: 85/100

Mordhell - Satanic Wombs

MORDHELL - Satanic Wombs (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2022)

Two years after “Graveyard Fuck” album and “Under the White Flame” 4-way split were released, Mordhell are back with another recording. Praised be the Satan whores! Technically, this new shit is also an album, but to be honest, the content is more suitable for an EP or something like that. Nevermind. I don’t really care, call it as you like. I also don’t think that Mordhell was ever a band, which would be high in my Polish black metal ranking – if there ever was one. They were always decent band (interview in my old zine was done back in 2004 or around that time already!), but that’s it. I don’t even listen to their music so often. And “Satanic Wombs” definitely won’t change that, especially that this album really feels like a less interesting and forgettable piece of music, even when compared to the previous Mordhell releases. There's just nothing on it what would really catch my attention. 

Such necro, simplistic, raw and obscure black metal is obviously fun to listen to, especially if I am in a shitty mood. Or if I get drunk – which doesn’t happen that often anymore. Mordhell with their primitive music is certainly close to the essence of mid-era Darkthrone’ish black metal, with a hint of Carpathian Forest, all spiced with sort of punkish attitude. And it’s quite cool, especially if you think how rare such music can sometimes be and how far has black metal went away from its roots in general. This is the best aspect of what Mordhell represents. And the music? It is obviously nothing special, but it doesn’t mean it is completely useless. Some great, almost catchy riffs, a nice necro, grim atmosphere, fuck off towards everything... On “Satanic Wombs” even the “artwork” and CD layout – which are the most simplistic and primitive I’ve probably ever seen – will tell you that Mordhell doesn’t give a damn about everything. Well, but I prefer my fancy looking gatefold vinyl with booklets and other shit hah! 

The problem with “Satanic Wombs” is that there are basically just five short songs... and the rest of the album are covers. And if Bathory (“The Rite of Darkness” from the second album) and Darkthrone (“Det svartner na” from “Hate Them”) covers are pretty good and suitable to the rest of the music, then “Tomhet” from the infamous Burzum repertoire is just strange. I suppose it was meant to give an extra attention and controversy to “Satanic Wombs”, but it didn’t work for me, I just skip that boring crap every time I play that fuckin CD. So, taking the whole content of this album, it is rather difficult to give it a fair verdict. I'm in a good mood though, so 69 seems like a proper number for Mordhell. 

Verdict: 69/100

Uncoffined - Ceremonies of Morbidity

UNCOFFINED - Ceremonies of Morbidity (MEMENTO MORI - CD 2016)

Doom death metal has become an unbelievably exciting genre in the recent few years, bringing an insane number of killer bands from all over the world. I’m not even gonna mention any names here, because there’re too many of them and I would always feel like I forgot about some bands that also deserved to be mentioned. But surprisingly, there are not so many acts from the country, which is a motherland of doom death – fuckin UK! Luckily there is Uncoffined, a name, which I believe has been hugely underrated, but whose two albums are absolutely brilliant. It all started with 2013’s “Ritual Death and Funeral Rites”, but it’s “Ceremonies of Morbidity”, which Memento Mori unleashed in 2016 is an album, which stands out and belongs to the very best death doom pieces of recent years. 

“Ceremonies of Morbidity” is an hour long monolith of death doom, which in my opinion sounds like a perfect definition of the genre. It ticks all the boxes for what that music needs. Sssooo, it is slow at its pace, with insanely crushing, heavy riffage and the atmosphere of gloom. When you listen to the music, you feel the riffs are like something creepy and horrid slowly crawls in the mud, bringing irrational fear. Ghastly growls perfectly underline that atmosphere of horror, so are all the movie samples, which Uncoffined used in-between the songs. There are five ceremonies on the album, together they last for an hour, so it is easy to count how long each song is. If you think that it can bring monotony and even dullness, then you are wrong, because these songs sound perfect and Uncoffined did everything to avoid mistakes. I think there’s enough variety within these five tracks to keep the listener interested and that includes few a bit more energetic, mid-tempo parts and harmonious pieces. Besides, “Ceremonies of Morbidity” has that cool influence from the very classic doom metal, like Cathedral, Candlemass or Trouble, which is very welcome and awesome. Of corpse you can bring also newer bands to the whole inspiration list, such as Hooded Menace, which may be the most obvious comparison... and well, it is just right to say that Uncoffined are equally good to the Finnish monster in cloak. More so, I have to say that there’s a great improvement from the first album. The music sounds better, it is better composed and more interesting, Uncoffined has taken a huge step forward and in the right direction. 

So, I am surprised that it’s so quiet around Uncoffined and it doesn’t even seem like there will be a continuation of this superb album. I hope there will! “Ceremonies of Morbidity” is a must have album, in my opinion, so do not hesitate to add it to your basket, when you see a copy in one of the distros. 

Verdict: 85/100