Heretic

Praising Satan - 15 Years Of Ultimate Satanic Sleaze

Written by: EW on 09/02/2011 17:40:15

You know its kinda disconcerting being tasked with reviewing a 'Best Of' from a band in one of your chosen genres whom one has never heard of, a situation you've probably realised I am currently in. Thank Satan however that Heretic are good! Good in the sense that their Venom-inspired black'n'roll'n'thrash attack is great fun to listen to, not that they exhibit any serious musical chops in the 13 songs and 39 minutes making up "Praising Satan…".

Long ago we all realised the majority of metal bands singing hymns to Satan do it without any serious personal devotion to the Dark Lord, and long ago we also realised those who do it with tongue firmly in cheek tend and with a musical attitude to boot also do it the best. I'm of course thinking the mighty Venom, but also your Sabbat's (Japan), Darkthrone's (recent at least), Nifelheim's, Midnight’s and Nunslaughter's forming a list to which Heretic can now be added. Not a moment of "Praising Satan", a collection of re-recorded songs from across the Dutch band's 15-year career, passes without the smell of alcohol-drenched venues leaving your nostrils and their catchy punked-up blackened vibe disappointing your ears. "Thunderbelial", "We Will Destroy", "Blood And Blasphemy", "Tyrants Of Evil", "Pure Goat Glorification"…they all ply the band's simple song-writing structures with simple recording and production techniques, most notably a massively under-produced drum sound recalling Venom's Abaddon at his best/worst, a highly refreshing and honest change to the usual compression-ridden over-produced musical environment we all live in.

In spirit aplenty but in musical terms nowt do Heretic share with the more commonly associated black metal acts of today; songs like "Unholy Rites" and "Knights Of Baphomet" have more in common with Spinal Tap than Watain. For such reasons Heretic and their "Praising Satan" LP can be held as a darkened beacon of the true spirit of Black Metal - the kind Lord Fenriz of Darkthroneshire will gladly attest to, but not something to lead us into uncharted territories. What we do have though is an album that will come as close as you'll get to 'Party Music Black Metal', and we all need some of that for metal piss-ups right?

7

Download: Tyrants Of Evil, Thunderbelial, We Will Destroy, Black Metal Overlords
For The Fans Of: Venom, Sabbat, Nifelheim
Listen: Myspace

Release date: 10.12.2010
Soulseller Records

The band’s Myspace player will not link and the only tracks found on Youtube have vastly inferior production qualities even to those found on this album, so sorry, no music player!

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