In the Name of the Father

Goddamn, this album is bad-f##@n-ass! Perfectly blending thrash and death metal, leaning more toward the death metal end, ALTAR pretty much decimates the listener. This is one of the few times where, upon hearing one album by a band, I immediately sought out the rest of their material. I got "Red Harvest" in the mail this morning (good ole ebay) and I can't wait to have my brains blasted out of my ears later today.

Anyway, back to the album. Thanks to the good folks at Metal Archives, I learned that Altar was mad at some religious group for preventing one of their concerts from turning Holland's youth into satanists. And boy, Altar didn't take that well. The first track, "Holy Mask," opens up with a hilarious clip from Conan the Barbarian, and then lights right into those stupid christian motherfuckers. This reminds me a bit of Dew-Scented, a bit of Vader, even a bit of Grave, or maybe that's just me trying to liken new found heroes to old favorites. Anyway, the vocals are harsh, but only veer into deathgrunts and gremlinscreams from time to time. It sounds a lot like the dude from Dew-Scented, in fact. The songs here have a lot more variation, though. There are blastbeats, double bass nuttiness, thrash riffs, some great mid-paced death metal moments, and winding solos - and that's all in the first song! And those damn Calvinists can deny their lust all they want, but Altar knows what's up.

The rest of the tracks each have something special, but few live up to the excellence of "Holy Mask" in my opinion. The best thing about "Spunk" is the intro (it reminds me of that wonderfully dirty pic on the CD tray - a moneyshot from the Father!), songs 6, 7, and 10 also don't stick in my mind too well. I guess I should just go with to the highlights...

"God Damn You." Indeed. Repetitive but infectious chorus, makes you want to take a hammer to the nearest clergy member.

"I Spit Black Bile on You." Whew, if I had to pick a second favorite this would definitely be it. A huge amount of changes in the song, blastbeats, and excellent lyrics - Holland strikes again! I'm not quite sure when Holland struck the first time mind you, but I'm sure Altar had something to do with it.

"Walhalla Express" Great tune, sounds like a train of death metal coming forth to humiliate you with various obscene sexual acts whilst listening to Slayer. This reminds me - there is an excellent shoutout to porn in the liner notes, basically appreciating various XXX stars for keeping the guitarist's hands quick. Ha ha ha.

So if you are a fan of thrash/death crossover music and enjoy a good stomping in the crotch area, pick this one up. Metal archives people know their shit, when they say something is good they usually aren't messing around (unless they are talking about power or black metal, but that is just personal preference). In the Name of Altar - get this album!