The Hierophant

I’m sure that it was one of the most anticipated black metal albums on the Polish grounds this year. All in all, Blaze of Perdition is one of the most respected bands in this religious country (although I have a feeling that this underground popularity in Poland doesn’t go in hand with the popularity abroad, or am I mistaken?). Anyway, myself I also have been very curious of what will “The Hierophant” deliver, how will it sound and will it outdo the brilliant debut, “Towards the Blaze of Perdition”? There were many questions to be answered. But really, the expectations were high, as “Towards the Blaze of Perdition” was a superb album. Of course there were some malcontents, who accused the band for using the present tendency for religious black metal and for taking their Swedish influences too much, but personally I wouldn’t give a damn shit for such comments and also I don’t think they’re real, especially that the music, even if was close to some Swedish bands, definitely had also something unique. The debut was perfect in my opinion, not only the layout, with band photos, etc was great, but also musically “Towards the Blaze of Perdition” presented a mature, well arranged and crafted black metal, with some of the best vocals I’ve heard. Of course there will always be something what can be improved, but that’s even bigger burden for Blaze of Perdition to deal with. If they’re going to better some things on “The Hierophant”, then it will be an album, which will burn their name on our skin for a long time. The promotion of the second LP started with “The Burning Will of Expansion” EP, but I didn’t want any appetisers, I wanted to go straight into the main course ASAP. And so I did.

Again the first thing that I’ve spotted was a superb layout for the LP. Not only the graphics on the album are great, but the band’s photos left me speechless. They’re great, very detailed and of course they do fit the whole tarot concept perfectly (immediately I reminded myself that Lux Occulta did something similar over a decade ago). All in all, when I look at that layout I think it’s another proof that no way fuckin mp3 will ever be better than a real album. If the layout, lyrics, etc are an inseparable part of the music and together they create the atmosphere, then how can I satisfy my musical hunger with just plain music files? Can you imagine listening to King Diamond, without reading the lyrics and understanding the horror story they perform? And in case of bands like Blaze of Perdition the layout and lyrics are very important. It’s not Cannibal Corpse, where no one cares about the lyrics (although even there the front cover is very important part of band’s style). With “The Hierophant” I didn’t have time to deep myself into the lyrics yet, but I bet they’re equally blasphemous and odious as they were on the debut, with lots of insults towards the christian faith and their morals. Anyway, at the moment I try to consume just the music of “The Hierophant”.

And I must say that Blaze of Perdition has recorded yet another great album. I think it’s slightly different than the debut. Of course it’s still well played, much faster, uncompromising, aggressive, but also sort of melodic in many parts black metal LP. Maybe the similarities to Watain are slightly more obvious here and there, but also to bands like Ondskapt and Ofermod. But if there are some resemblances to “Lawless Darkness” it doesn’t mean Blaze of Perdition copies the Swedish black metal stars. It’s more like a similar dark and infernal atmosphere and the fact that both bands play their black metal in fast and merciless way, with the use of some melodic parts, but Blaze of Perdition has their own character, definitely.

But after the first listening of “The Hierophant” I sort of felt unsatisfied with the new LP. I don’t know why, but that’s probably due to all those high expectations for it and the fact that “Towards the Blaze of Perdition” raised the bar so high. My first thought on “The Hierophant” was that it doesn’t include such amazing songs as those two Polish written tracks “Królestwo Twoje” and “Misterium Kliffoth” from the debut. The songs on “The Hierophant” aren’t that catchy, if you know what I mean, there are also no Polish lyrics anywhere, so… I did feel slightly disappointed. But after the few listens, I’ve noticed that the compositions and their structures have definitely improved. They went in slightly different direction, but definitely the riffing is tighter, with more interesting arrangements, so the music feels much more intense, faster and merciless, but at the same time occasionally it also brings surprisingly melodic parts, especially the guitar leads, which was quite a surprising element for me. Anyway, the whole music is very dynamic. Again the vocals are superb and so is also the production. I’m not going to write where have the band worked on “The Hierophant”, it’s well known place, but the effect is very good.

And so I get less and less critical towards new Blaze of Perdition album with every next listening. I like the album more and more. I’m not able to say whether this is better LP than “Towards the Blaze of Perdition” or not, it probably depends on my mood on the day I listen to it, so it would be safer to say that both albums are equally good. All in all “The Hierophant” is a great event for the black metal scene, not just the Polish one, but worldwide also. So get this LP immediately, don’t just blindly follow the Swedish bands, as there’s much more than that in the black metal underground.
Standout tracks: “The Hierophant”, „I am Thy Plague”,” Let there Be Darkness”
Final rate: 90/100

It was only until very recently that I looked into the Polish black metal scene, and I must say that they have an amazing underground scene. There is so much hidden talent in Poland that it almost seemed like a crime for me to overlook such a prolific scene. One underground band that stood out to me was Blaze of Perdition. They give off such an amazing vibe from their music which I didn’t really get from the others. The music is; subtle, yet potent…traditional, yet modern… tolerantly generic, yet awesome.

The first thing to mention is the sheer complexity of the music. Blaze of Perdition is a very, very technical black metal band. There is no such thing as “technical black metal”, so I’m finding it quite hard to find a genre to put this band in, and it would be wrong of me to just make up a genre on the spot. Well, the only thing to do is make a comparison to a mainstream band that we all know and lover, Marduk anyone? Marduk is one of the most insane bands to ever hit the black metal scene, who also ended up to being one of the most successful. I think, their secret lies within the musical structure because they were one of the only bands (at the time) who could make energetic, super fast, super brutal black metal and get away with it not being a pile of shit. They kept things relatively neat, tidy and organised in comparison with other black metal bands. So where does this leave Blaze of Perdition? In my opinion, I think that Marduk and Blaze of Perdition are very similar in an aesthetic sense. In particular, the brutality, the contemporary vibe and the overall “kvltness” i.e. they both have the same primary feeling behind the music.

Don’t get me wrong, Blaze of Perdition isn’t just another wannabe Marduk, they do have an extension to their sound. Blaze of Perdition definitely have a Bestial characteristic which is quite evident in The Hierophant; sheer technicality of the drumming, the sound and structure of the guitar work and even the extremely harsh vocal style, all promote a bestial vibe to the music. This is so evident, that when I first heard The Hierophant, I was quite tempted to label it as war metal but there is just something not right with labelling them that. Unlike other Bestial black metal/war metal bands though, Blaze of Perdition don’t seem as grim or as dirty as say, Archgoat. This is probably the main reason why I don’t see them as war metal but this is vital to keeping that contemporary feeling behind their music, and it is this “contemporary feeling” that is to be Blaze of Perdition’s charm.

Grim or dirty, Blaze of Perdition is not, that being said there is a little bit of dark feeling behind in the atmosphere. Like any other black metal band who have slight imprints of bestiality, Blaze or Perdition sound rather dark. I’m not sure about others, but The Hierophant sounds like a very dark album which has a sense of power behind it. The Hierophant sounds more sinister than anything Marduk has ever produced (maybe aside from their old underground days) but I don’t exactly know why or how, The Hierophant seems like this in its nature. I believe it stems from the guitar riffs and the high pitched tuning of them. This is the typical method that black metal bands (including Blaze of Perdition) tend to utilize to create an evil atmosphere and quite honestly I don’t blame them, because it works, so why not? But, what I do like about the balefulness in Blaze of Perdition’s music is that they’ve managed to achieve this in high quality. What I mean by this is that they didn’t have to resort to recording music in a tin can to make their music sound evil and dark and everything else raw and bestial black metal bands tend to do in an effort to seem more kvlt. There aren’t any fuzzy sounds in the background, there isn’t any atmospheric “trickery” involved, the recording of The Hierophant is as clear as crystal. I don’t know about you, but I find that everything is emphasised with high quality recording; the vocals, the drumming and the guitars. The music sounds faster, more comprehensible and less of an ear sore, but now we’re adding evil to the mix? That’s just the icing on the cake.

Is it just me, or is everyone else getting bored with brutal black metal bands being, well… brutal, all the time. I just get bored of listening to the same; riffs, song structure and blast beats over and over again with no variation, and I’m not talking about listening to one album or band, it seems like a common trend has been achieved and black metal bands from around the world transmit this sound through Chinese whispers. It’s almost like there are strict guide lines on how extreme styles of black metal should sound like, leaving bands with no leeway for innovation or flexibility of their sound. I think even the band members for Blaze of Perdition have had enough of this, they didn’t want to fall into the generic trap that many others have fallen into before them. Blaze of Perdition have found a neat solution and have put a nice band-aid on the problem. The answer is so simple, that generic black metal bands all over the world should give themselves a nice slap in the face for not thinking of it. The answer lies within the guitars, interesting guitars at that. Yeah, sure, there are moments where the guitar work is nothing spectacular and generic as all hell. But they’ve thrown in guitar solos, moments of shredding in the background and a few riffs that would be fit for a progressive metal band. Not putting the guitars at the forefront of their music has also seemed to pay off because I think that they sound different without trying to sound different, it just comes naturally and everyone knows that nature does everything the best. Not only this, but these little sections of variation to the guitars change the mood of the tracks and just adds a whole new dimension to the atmosphere.

For those who enjoy calmer forms of black metal, do not despair, moments of peace and serenity are not completely absent from The Hierophant (even though I wouldn’t recommend The Hierophant as bed time music). There are definitely slow moments in The Hierophant and they’re littered throughout the album which I think increase the overall replay value of music. There’re just the right tone, played at just the right time and right quantity to not disrupt the main objective of The Hierophant in the first place, to be an insane album. I think that quality of them should also be commended; it’s easy to tell that they didn’t do this to JUST have a variation of sound, they have put a lot thought into these short passages (no matter how short they may be) and have taken full advantage of the opportunities to improve their sound.

Overall, The Hierophant has fulfilled its purpose to be a brutal yet, interesting black metal album and seeing that it was released in 2011, they have a lot of competition around. Poland has an extremely tight, competitive underground black metal scene and any band that stands out there should be addressed for the world to hear. Even though some elements in The Hierophant aren’t anything new and are overused in black metal, the mood that Blaze of Perdition has set is outstanding. I highly recommend Blaze of Perdition to anyone who enjoys their black metal; fast, bestial and sinister with touches of tranquillity on the side. The full experience of The Hierophant can only be attained if the album is thoroughly explored and embraced. But for those who are simply looking for a one night stand, you cannot go past the track “Gospel of the Serpent’s Kin” because it’s the complete Blaze of Perdition package in one song. I highly recommend Blaze of Perdition’s The Hierophant and I think it’s worth a 16/20.

Originally written for the Spirit of Metal Webzine and MINIRADMAN.blogspot.com