战争·瘟疫 (War-Plague)

The burgeoning black metal scene in China is quite impressive, churning out quality acts at an alarming rate. It seems like black metal in general has become a widespread phenomenon, so it takes a lot for a band to stand out as impressive and even more difficult for them to actually be worthy of your time. Evilthorn is one such product of the Chinese black metal scene and an enjoyable one at that. Although there is nothing on this album that you haven't heard before, the songs are rather intense and catchy as hell.

“War-Plague” houses an intro followed by three songs of average length. There's not too much variety between the tracks, although they each have their moments. The overall presentation really reminds me of polished melodic black metal along the lines of Dimmu Borgir and Old Man's Child crossed with the punkish simplicity and rocking undertones of later period Satyricon. All of the tracks are well played and retain a certain melodic nature throughout the riffing, yet they also have these enormous rollicking feel at times. While none of the instruments truly stand out as phenomenal, the songs themselves are solid enough that it's not really a problem.

The intro to the album would fit well on Mayhem's “Grand Declaration of War”, as its somewhat electronic spaciness clashes with a militant drum line and some odd spoken word portions. After the intro, though, everything fires on all cylinders. The guitars have a fairly warm tone yet still manage to sound somewhat mechanical at times. The drums are solid yet nothing amazing. Most of the EP bounces between any one of three options: a fast paced barrage of alternating hi-hat and snare combos, bordering on blast beats but never really getting to speed; fast paced double runs with simplistic handwork on the crash and snare; and a rather slow paced standard double kick rock beat with a little more flair because there are actually fills here and there. The bass plods along, following the guitar riffs like an obedient and ever-faithful dog. The vocals really put me in mind of early Samael, being more of a deeper raspy shout than any type of screaming, which works really well given the melodic, rollicking nature of the music.

“Trample” leads with a fast paced yet catchy trem riff and blistering double bass before building into a “Now, Diabolical” styled black rocker, with punk riffing and relatively simplistic drum beats with freaking hooks out the ass. “Colonize” does a lot of the same with catchy, punk influenced riffing, but this one backs off on the drums a bit more and comes across as slightly more reserved. Thankfully, the band doesn't just stick with the rocking black metal style of Satyricon, as certain sections delve into melodic breaks, much like Galder does with a lot of Old Man's Child tracks. The melodic, clean guitars are a nice change of pace from the almost mechanical, punk induced riffing. While it does get somewhat samey after repeated listens, it's actually quite decent for a fourteen minute EP. Honestly Evilthorn's “War-Plague” is like the marriage of melodious black metal of Dimmu Borgir (sans-keyboards) blended with late period Satyricon and it works like a charm.

Props to the band for the awesome engrish lyrics. Such gems as “Those women are demon's meats, Menfolks, fuck off to underside!”, “The evil metal seed in our body long time,” and “We really need more and more desire!”. While it' not quite on par with the literary gold that entails much of Sabbat's illustrious career, it's good for a few cheap laughs. This isn't the greatest release in the style, but the rollicking undertones make this a fun listen. Unlike Satyricon, who seems content to put no effort whatsoever into this style, Evilthorn are able to make their own brand of black metal catchy and still enjoyable. This should go without saying, but purists should probably steer clear because this has a very modern feel to it. Fans of later Satyricon and Dimmu Borgir should really enjoy this. If you're not afraid of some rollicking punk rock in your melodic black metal, then please check this out. The band has yet to release anything else, so hopefully there's something in the works.