I’m sure most of our readers here at Nightmare Reality are
somewhat familiar with the black/death metal act Black Witchery,
but, what about the old-school death metal band Impurath and co. formed way
back in 1991 who only recorded a couple of demos before changing the name to
Witchery before moving on to become the entity now known as Black Witchery? In
2010, a compilation album featuring the two previously released demos, one unreleased
demo and two live tracks was released.
As I mentioned above; Irreverent was formed in 1991 when
Impurath and co. were very young, probably still teenagers. It’s been said that
they originally started off playing a lot of Hellhammer and Bathory covers,
which definitely shows through on the songs here; which feature a weighty
Hellhammer-ish tone and vibe. The Irreverent material differs greatly from what
they would go on to write as Black Witchery… for starters; the music is often
much slower, almost ritualistic at times, and as mentioned, has a massive
Hellhammer vibe in the bass-heavy guitar tone.
The production is surprisingly consistent between the demos,
allowing the compilation to flow more like a full length album, which works
well given the 40 minute run time. The songwriting is generally straightforward
and primitive, with plenty of variety between songs, leaving this to be one of
the best demo comps I’ve heard in a while. I’d put it up there with Slaughter
Lord and Sadistic Intents’ compilation releases.
“Blasphemous Crucifix Profanation” is a must-own for all
fans of Black Witchery, old-school death metal and punishing Hellhammer
worship. If I still haven’t convinced you that this is worth bagging, look up
the songs “Crush the Messiah”, “Mortuary Feast”, “Ritual of Darkness” and “Holy
Denunciation” to hear this long forgotten cult band speak for itself.
Final Rating:
Awesome 8.3/10
