Bastard Priest

Ghouls Of The Endless Night

Written by: MST on 18/01/2012 12:58:21

Death metal may be my genre of preference, but I've never been into more than a handful of old school death metal bands, and thus the for the fans of section may not be entirely accurate. But the young Swedish death metal band Bastard Priest just got a hold of my attention and refused to let go. Formed in 2001, the band waited almost ten years to release their debut full length "Under the Hammer of Destruction" in 2010. In 2011 they returned with the follow up titled "Ghouls Of The Endless Night".

Everything about Bastard Priest screams old school Swedish death metal, from the black and white photos of the leather'n'spikes-clad and sunglasses-wearing band members to the echoing growls that never go guttural because that would be too modern. The drums and riffs hint at a hardcore punk influence, just to add a little extra to the mix. The drums usually follow the regular one-two beats known from punk and, well, old school death metal. But we're also treated to a doomy track in "Poison" that drags the listener into the graveyard at zombie speeds (not those modern zombies that jump at you, the slow ones). The guitars play tremolo riffs through most of the energetic songs, with some occasional punk riffs thrown in here and there for good measure, as heard in "Fucking Slaughter".

The album features old school death metal anthems such as album opener "Pestilent Force" with non-stop energy and an equally energetic solo towards the end, the title track with its catchy chorus and another bombastic solo section in the last part of the track, and the sinister and gig-friendly "Fucking Slaughter" that would provide an excellent opportunity for fans to sing a long to the chorus that simply goes: "Fucking slaughter!". Granted, most of the songs sound very alike, so neither the originality- or diversity-scales are given much thought, but because most of the songs are so catchy and demand your head moving, the lack of diversity is quickly forgiven. My personal taste makes the ultra-slow "Poison" and the somewhat simple "Last Scream" my least favorite songs, but that all comes down to opinions in the end. The rest of the album contains plenty of awesome tracks to make any death metal fan bang their head, but if energetic punked up death metal doesn't quite do the trick for you, turn your attention to those other tracks.

I suppose me being somewhat of a newbie to old school Swedish death metal means that I am subject to being easily impressed, but from what I've been able to gather on the interwebs, more experienced old school reviewers agree that this album brings exactly nothing new to the scene, but in a good way, because that's the way it should be. Bastard Priest is a tribute to the old masters of the genre, and it's a damned good one.

Download: Pestilent Force, Ghouls Of The Endless Night, Fucking Slaughter, Sacrilegious Ground
For The Fans Of: Dismember, Autopsy, Entombed
Listen: Myspace

Release date 07.11.2011
Pulverised Records

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