Black Beasts

Black Beasts followed up on their excellent second demo with this, a basically-untitled second demo/EP/whatever that did not disappoint in the slightest. There's always so much on the line with these bands that are constantly pushing the boundaries of extremity with what they do; when you're pushing to 11 constantly, practically every release is either a really strong hit or a huge miss. Case in point: Nails. Unsilent Death was great, they followed up with Abandon All Life which was INSANELY heavy in every regard (good evolution), then with You Will Never Be One of Us it's as if every positive element was considerably scaled back (bad evolution). Black Beasts could've very well lost a lot of momentum moving from that second demo to their next release, but they keep it up and perhaps even up the ante a bit.

The production on this tape is just ferocious; the guitars sound like they will punch you in the face if you so much as look at them, and the vocals are so buried that they've been reduced to a ghostly, vengeful burst of treble like a pissed-off cloud of static. The riffs are still blackened punk mastery, basic half-step power chords bleeding pure rage and fury in musical form, with each song spitting out two or three excellent riffs backed by crushing punk-stomp beats before a wave of shrieking feedback heralds in the next song. Credit must really be given for the band's reinvention of "Qliphoth", which was an awkward and floundering song on the first demo which has been revived here and turned into an absolute banger with monstrous riffs. On that song there's an excellent build-up back to the main riff around the 1-minute mark - I have thrown down to this riff in the privacy of my bedroom many, many times. A favorite would have to either be "Qliphoth" or "Descent from Being", simply because they're the faster of the four songs, but even the two mid-paced songs in the middle are destructive and potent. "The Moon in One Eye..." would be vicious by any other band but almost sounds friendly in comparison to the surrounding material, whereas "Pass the Eternal Gate" serves its song title well with a pendulum-like, looming main riff that seemingly stands watch as the song struts by.

There isn't much to say about this tape, partially because it's only 8 minutes long, partially because there are very few components to this genre as a whole, but also partially because not much has changed from the excellence of Demo II, in the review of which I explained a bit more about the magical energy that makes Black Beasts such an amazing band. I am a bit worried by the recent silence of Black Beasts, but perhaps they, too, know that the stakes are high. Perhaps they're biding their time, not painstakingly arranging new material, but waiting for the right blend of rage that will properly carry on the Black Beasts name. As with the previous demo, this stuff is essential listening.