Ceremony of Godslaying

There are ways to get to know a group that can be quite strange. Thus, it is by reading a press report, published late last year that I discovered the Russian band Inferius Torment, whose leader has been arrested and accused of an unknown crime! The statement said however that the band’s new album will still be released. It is therefore with great interest that I throw an ear on Ceremony of Godslaying (2012) when it finally landed in my inbox. For reasons I never fully understood, music performed by felons always whets my curiosity.

And I was not disappointed. Almost forty minutes of satanic black metal are carelessly inflicted on unaware listeners. The production quality is impressive, especially for a Russian group (recording of the album at the famous Stage One Studio is probably no stranger to that). Indeed, the land of the Tsars has not a very good reputation in this matter; we have long been used to poor recordings coming from that country. As for the composition, it relies strongly on heavy and aggressive rhythmic, but some intros and passages are way more subtle and sometimes use traditional instruments. Thus, if Agnus Dei sends a direct blow to the head, songs like Diabolical Key or Sola Sciptura are rather inflicting painful body jabs. The similarities with brutal black metal practiced in Poland and Sweden are still quite evident, and a song like Funeral of a Christian God could without embarrassment end up on a Marduk or Infernal War album. Rare phenomenon in black metal, the last song is the best. Unbaptized Flames is an excellent tune that alternates between high-speed passages and others heavy like a ton of bricks.

Inferius Torment is a great surprise and this second album shows their seriousness. But I hope that legal problems of their lead singer will be brief. A band to discover quickly, for anyone who loves to ear bleed! 8/10

Initially written for metalobscur.com