Hacksaw

Hacksaw is a wonderful example of old school raw black metal with war metal influence.

It opens with a 4 count played on cymbals that sound like glass breaking in the other room over some 60 cycle hum feedback as if to warn the listener about the production value to come. The song proper features a few simple but driving low-register power chord riffs over a barely-audible blast beat punctuated by the same crash we opened with. Usually when I think of raw/lo-fi black metal I think of thin and trebly guitar, but here it’s actually thick and muddy, which is a nice change of pace. The vocals are unhinged, chaotic screeches reminiscent of B.S.o.D. or Maniac on Deathcrush, which contrasts nicely with the dark and muddy instrumental. There’s a shredding Slayer-esque solo towards the end that perfectly fits the evil and thrashy energy while adding some depth and variation.

I don’t feel like this single by itself will have a ton of staying power in my library, but I truly hope it makes it onto a future release with similar tracks that differ just enough to keep things interesting for more long term repeatability. Looking forward to checking out Reap of Evil’s previous work and releases to come (especially if there's some hacksaw-related lyrics published with them).