Panchrysia / Iconoclasm
The Ultimate Crescendo Of Hell (Split CD)
0
What’s On Tap: Split featuring two relatively obscure Belgian bands playing completely different styles of black metal...
The Panchrysia side of the coin:
Production: 4.5
Songwriting: 4
Musicianship: 4
Panchrysia’s offering on The Ultimate Crescendo of Hell split isn’t likely to have you running about hailing them as the genre’s best kept secret, but it certainly stands as a worthy representation of this Belgian quartet’s persistent, mid-paced, riff oriented style of black metal. Each of the three relatively lengthy songs on display are built on a similar foundation of simple, bubbling bass lines, repetitive, crisp riffing, and solid, well-played drumming. Think Volcano era Satyricon, mixed with mid-era Khold, all swadled together with a filthy vocal styling very reminiscent of Rattenkoenig era Mutiilation. Three solid tunes certainly worthy of pushing the limits of the ol’ volume knob, but nothing that’ll blow the panda-paint off your face. Things are rounded out with a live recording of “Angst” from the band’s 2004 release, Malicious Parasite.
The Iconoclasm side of the coin:
Production: 5
Songwriting: 6
Musicianship: 6
There’s a scene in the classic film, American Werewolf In London, where the blood-thirsty, wolven form of David Kessler leaps over a car and tears the head off an unsuspecting victim with his gore-soaked fangs. It is that scene and that maniacal beast that immediately comes to mind when playing the Iconoclasm portion of this split. Holy, holy shit! This band is a hulking, visceral, thrash infused black metal beast!! Seriously folks, the five songs represented by these Belgians rip, tear and kill nearly all the thrashy black metal I’ve heard yet this year. I don’t know if the band’s previous material is this acerbic or hellbent, but I now certainly consider my interest level piqued for the their back catalog.
Following the relatively short intro on first cut, “Hellmouth”, your face is immediately removed by the ballsiest, fastest cut of the bunch. The remarkably precise drumming is unbelievably fast, the riffs are razor goddamned sharp and furious, and the bloody vocals sound like a young History of A Time To Come era Walkyier with a hot nail shoved in his eye. But that ain’t it friends, because the remainder of the material continues onward with break-neck speed, but tosses in numerous moments of thrashy breaks, bringing to mind bands of yore such as Blood Feast, Whiplash, and very early Sabbat, all while remaining rooted in a solid foundation of relatively modern, polished black metal. In other words, Iconoclasm’s side of The Ultimate Crescendo of Hell split is easily worth the money and absolutely essential listening for fans of attacking, visceral, thrash infused black metal. Very, very impressive.
