Terror Propaganda

Right off the bat, you hear a track like "ablaze" and it becomes obvious that what Craft do with Terror Propaganda is like a proverbial napalm cocktail to the face. I have a hard time believing anyone takes themselves more seriously than Craft do on this disc here. The misanthropic attitude of punk and raw black metal aesthetic (even funeral doom) on display harks to a time when these phrases actually meant something. That said, Terror Propaganda is an uncontested tour de force of primitive black metal done with surgical precision.

The gamut of metal genres and past influences is wide. Undoubtedly you will come across names like Darkthrone, Celtic Frost, Burzum, ad infinitum. But I don't think these really do the content justice. There's a lot of sludge-filled passages that teeter on the verge of funeral doom without losing that old school black metal vibe (2nd wave), along with plenty of tremolo picked riffing to establish the band's frozen Northern roots. All in all, some terms that really give you a frame of reference for the sound yet do nothing to prepare you for what it's actually like. This is masterful(ly) Craft(ed) 3rd wave bm with tons of variation and nary a boring moment.

Without sounding like even more of a rabid fan-boy, there really are some truly inspiring black metal gems on this record that most fans of the genre would easily agree on. "Ablaze", "False Orders Begone", and "616" really steal the show. But "Hidden under the skin", "N.D.P." and "Terror Propaganda" do just as well in providing that positive listening experience. I would have to say the stand-out piece is undoubtedly "False Orders Begone", with a hammering introduction that just chugs through with healthy doses of testosterone fueled aggression ala one brutal power chord after another while the drummer lays down a militaristic procession of supporting skin battery. Before soon, it all gives way to an incredibly scathing and insanely vile vokill delivery thus unparalleled by most of black metal to date. And if that wasn't enough, eventually the song breaks down into a bludgeoning dirge so cold and depressive it steals the warmth right from the bones of its listeners. Finally, this too gives way to vocal styling so insane and other-worldly, it reminisces back to moments from the film 'The Exorcist' (or something equally as, if not more, sickening), combined with the most death-filled shrieks heard since early Burzum. Basically, the vocalist continues to spew forth a combination of these aforementioned styles of high-pitched and oppressive evil that it really gives you a sense of how powerful music with real conviction, like this, can be. This is followed by the hyper-speed brutality of N.D.P. and the album is quite relentless like this, permutating styles and tempos for the remainder of the disc.

I can't do this review justice enough, though clearly I've tried. Perhaps reading some of the other reviews would be more enlightening. Anyway, this has to be a top 10 or 20 black metal album for me for that one song alone. And I would say while tracks like N.D.P. and 616 really do get the blood pumping, it's those other brilliant moments in "False Orders Begone" or the opening moments on "The Silence Thereafter" which accompany more the Burzum-esque screams where you realize the brilliance (and variation) of this band is evident.

Craft do what they do with such class on Terror Propaganda... its hard to say enough about it. The only thing keeping this from a perfect score would be the few times the songs noodle on too long with slower tempos without vocal deliveries or changing it up, but even these are done well and seem to move the album, and mood, along in a calculated direction. Undoubtedly Craft are the final nail in the coffin of previous said purveyors of raw black metal, Darkthrone... indubitably having had their "dark throne" torn from beneath their mortal arses at the onset of this album's release. Hail to the new order... LOL. 94%: pretty close to perfection, and deservedly so.