US blackened death metal legends
Angelcorpse were the definition of war metal. Everything the band did in the 90’s
was gold, and alongside Blasphemy, Gospel Of The Horns, Conqueror, Destroyer
666, Angelcorpse were one of the bands which had a massive impact of the modern
black/death scene, pretty much innovating all the bands which featured
extremely aggressive riffs with loads of speed, precision and corpulence. Their
music is absolutely crushing, devastating, and culminating with aggravating
lyrical content of war, war, and war. To make a long story short, Angelcorpse
innovated the black/death scene as we know it, and to this day, their tracks
reek of nothing but war, destruction and complete devastation and abhorrence
against humanity.
Their sound is defined by pummelling drum
beats, shattering and scathing visceral vitriol all around, and the closest
comparison would be the primal war metal bands of the 90’s with additional
blasting elements snatched from the Florida death metal scene to boast the
rambunctious, devastating porthole of riffs, sprayed upon the listener within
an instant. Although all of Angelcorpse’s albums are robust excursions and
perplexing brutality and ravaging decimation, their second offering ‘’Exterminate’’
ultimately lives up to its name, fabricating and culminating the utmost
brutality that Angelcorpse ever bestirred. ‘’Exterminate’’ is such a complex
warp of constantly deviating disaster that it never seems to cease in speed and
the richly layered textures are always on the work, either pummelling guts of rapidly
surfacing through flesh, but constantly damaging all the same.
With its intellectual approach to blackened
death metal, ‘’Exterminate’’ sounds almost like a slightly technical death
metal album, but the fog of seething old school black metal corruption makes
sure such an event never occurs, stabilizing the album’s position as old
school. Although Angelcorpse take a plentiful measure of black metal and shove
them up the furious death metal content, ‘’Exterminate’’ has evolved in a way
that renders the black metal influence nearly invisible, and the black metal
traits have slowly blended with the death metal traits, forming a fusion that
harnesses the energy of both within one wreathed chord whirlwind.
‘’Exterminate’’ will batter down the walls
of your ears. It’s monstrously crushing, contemptuous, and writhing. While it
can easily shatter with its terrific line of turbulences, it still tends to add
some variation into these violent incursions, embellishing the outrageous chord
fluctuations with diverse melodies here and there, and you’ll also see a
massive breakdown at seldom, where the music channels into one smashing thrash
chug all of a sudden. The vocals are raspy and to the point, exhaling words
without procrastinating anything, and the drums are just as ill-tempered as the
guitars, rolling in and forth between blast beats, blast beats and yet more
blast beats. ‘’Exterminate’’, alongside with Angelcorpse’s early work are
masterpieces of brutality, and a completely different view of war as we know it.
Highlights
''Reap The Whirlwind''
''Wartorn''
''That Which Lies Upon''
''Sons Of Vengeance''
Final Rating
Almost A Masterpiece [8.9/10]
