Miasmic Monstrosity

After the primitive attack of the recently released Abatuar and the classic and tasteful classic black metal attack in form of the latest full length by Entartung Dunkelheit Produktionen are going for the triple. Black Communion are in a way somewhere between their two mentioned label colleagues, with going for a quite traditional yet certainly rawer style of black metal. Having been formed in 2013 these crazy Colombians have released one full length and several demos, splits and EPs before “Miasmic Monstrosity”, being full length number two in their discography. South-American black/death metal bands are famous for the sheer power of their fierce musical attacks and Black Communion are certainly no exemption to this rule.

This is ceremonial black metal standing on its own as a hypnotic, captivating ritual experience. Ritualistic guitar chords work as counter harmony to the muffled growling and shrieking of the vocals, pushed way in the back of the tomb. Lead guitar sounds are echoing in the hollows between the fierce tremolo runs. Often the band keeps blending the main riffs into a whitewash of warbling sound, like an unstable connection between our realm and the cursed lands of unfathomable darkness and sorrow. Some of the more stoic main harmonies push Black Communion a bit more into death metal territory.

Black Communion play their music with such accuracy, showing a true passion for the original and primitive style and channeling it into the band’s own creativity. It’s the love for the origins of the genre that drives the band, and it shows on “Miasmic Monstrosity” with flying colors. The pounding drum style and riff changes all mirror the obvious idols with uncanny accuracy. This is not a negative thing in my books, as these lads clearly respect the pioneers of the scene.

What surprised me here was how interesting the songwriting can be, with a lot of small and sometimes subtle details making the record more enjoyable than one might think in the first place because of its raw and straight-forward energy. Several rhythm changes and modifications of the main themes often give the songs a new direction and additional layers, leading to the mood of the listener changing while listening. That being said the main goal of Black Communion is of course to construct fierce and sinister music, but it can be interesting to take notice while the record is spinning.

The production is as one might expect, very rough around the edges. However, this is not the kind of garage sound, but a nice mixture of rawness and clarity. The drums have this quite “steely” sound which can often be found in South-American extreme metal. The cover artwork is stunning and as usual there are great physical editions provided by Dunkelheit, so fans and collectors should really go and get a copy of this album.