Spanish black-thrash metal maniacs Körgull The Exterminator are back with their fifth album of high-speed debauchery.
Acoustic guitars start the album with a gorgeously tranquil and ancient vibe, alongside sampling to complete the preface to medieval mayhem. Ripping riffs and hammered drums launch a battalion of carnage forth with no remorse. Devilish vocals meet the melodically furious extremity to accentuate the blasphemous music excellently, this is clearly going to be an intense, killer slab of black-thrash might. Tight riffing and impactful drum fills blast on with relentlessly energetic performances from the entire band that has that contagious spirit that is impossible not to be enchanted by. Visceral and chaotic solos work beautifully with the rhythmic battery to lay even more waste to all who dare spin this vicious tome of extreme metal brutality. With a precision to the frenzied assault, there is no way one could lose their focus once beginning.
Although a fairly primal style of production is used along with rather simple ideas, the passionate fury that delivers the music is undeniable and far superior to something of sterile technical convictions. This is heavy metal, the old school way with dangerously sharp musicianship and a stern attitude as to who the right listener might be. Wimps and posers are clearly not wanted on this devastating record that is clearly intended for underground maniacs only. With the venomous energy that bands like Nifelheim, Deathhammer and Whipstriker have offered consistently, there is certainly room for Körgull The Exterminator to join the ranks of bands still flying the black-thrash flag with a puritanically old school approach. Aside from this Bback-thrash madness, we do see some very classic heavy metal elements from the likes of Mercyful Fate to Voivod appearing in the depths of the musical fury.
Hellish soundscapes of morbid samples and eerie breaks occasionally halt the momentum to ramp of the weirdness while the barrelling aggression is never far away to stampede you with monolithic walls of 80s riffs, blastbeats and screeched howls. At around 45 minutes, this is fairly long for the style, but is kept in the high-octane category (as opposed to drawn out, lame and dull) due to stripping back anything that could be deemed pretentious nonsense for a focal and unforgiving, uncompromising slab of barbaric savagery. Do not expect anything modern on this release, this feels like the soundtrack to a motorbike ride through the chasms of hell, the way bands used to sound in the late 80s, especially in South America.
Ripping, black-thrash chaos the way it was supposed to be. These guys have unleashed a beastly slab of metal that may not be reinventing the wheel, but delivers passionate fury with nothing held back. A commendable record that is certainly deserving of your time.
Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com
Körgull the Exterminator… well, what can I say? Since their very first steps, the musicians under this banner wrote songs that embodied pure bestiality, hatred, rudeness and, last but not least, an omnipresent “f**k you” attitude. Their blackened thrash inferno has always been the polar opposite of clemency, mildness and radio-friendly music. And if we can believe in the song titles of “Sharpen Your Spikes”, we can be sure that KtE still sounds black. We receive the “Prophecy of Black Blood”, visit “The Black Goat of the Woods” and learn that “A Black Bird Is Always a Warning”. More blackness is forbidden. But can we really trust these song names?
Obama said: yes, we can. I agree in this case. KtE haven’t changed their way of proceeding. A rolling thunder of thrashing riffs, vehement drumming and a voice that reminds of Sabina Classen’s most toxic days convert my cosy living room to a sonic battlefield. I freely admit that the stage-setting intro sounds like the beginning of a ballad of Blackie (!) Lawless (I nearly hear him lamenting “where is the lo-ove?”), but that’s just the calm before the storm. Snot meets inferno as soon as the first regular track (and simultaneously the first highlight) sets in. Lilith, the only female survivor after the departure of Steel Maniac in 2013, negates all of her feminine charms and her rude performance does not only re-vitalize the spirit of Wendy O. Williams. It also motivates the male part of the Spanish team to extraordinary dedication. Therefore swirling guitars clear a path through the jungle of mainstream music which has been so meticulously treated with pesticides. Moreover, some compositions possess a fascinating element of hellish catchiness. The guitar leads and the chorus of the title track find their way into my long-term memory very quickly – and that’s just one example.
Yet it is a matter of course that “Sharpen Your Spikes” has other dominating traits than catchiness. The aforementioned black goat, for instance, has probably been a bulldozer in a previous life. However, no challenge is too big for this squadron. No matter how dry the ground is, the relentless quintet ploughs through it with great ease. And it is not only “The Black Goat of the Woods” which shows that an extra dose of malicious heaviness and the temporary neglect of ultra-fast rhythms can go hand in hand. This does not mean that KtE dish up doomy sections, but Lady Necrobitch and the boys know the power of a precisely killing mid-tempo part very well. Moreover, they love to come to the point directly. Tracks like the straight, murderous and sharp “Battle Ram” have no single gram of fat. They just split skulls with great ease, the more the better – and the fury they reflect is simply impressive. Okay, maybe it is true that KtE slightly run out of breath during the (still strong) closer, which almost sounds like a Desaster song with “medieval” melodies. In addition, it might be true that one could optimize one or two further pieces. But to speak about these details would be small-minded and petty in view of the overall quality of this output. Instead, enjoy this feast of howling guitars or collapse and let yourself re-animate softly by “real heavy music”, for example Accept’s “Metal Heart” or comparable shit.
Last but not least, the production must be mentioned. In short: excellent. It develops a gargantuan power and proves evidence that transparency and dirt do not exclude each other. The mix of “Sharpen Your Spikes” is a demonstration of fierce power and it gives the already breath-taking songs the final touch. Enough written. This album with its perfect centre consisting of the title track, “Battle Ram” and ”The Black Goat of the Woods” is nothing less than a must-have for all those who love structured noise. No doubt, we can trust in the song titles I mentioned at the end of the first paragraph. They do not promise too much, albeit the almost poetic name “A Black Bird Is Always a Warning” can lead the audience on a wrong track. Körgull the Exterminator are neither sensitive nor poetic – but they are stronger than ever and they are back… in black.