Primordial Serpent Holocaust

Sacristy was one of the local acts opening for Deströyer 666 in New York City when I saw them way back in September 2006. One is always a bit wary of unknown local acts, especially in smaller venues - it's usually hit or miss. Well, Sacristy lived up to the challenge and I eventually got this album (they didn't have any at the show, tease!) Basically Sacristy is early/mid 90s black metal worship. The Darkthrone influences are dominant, but there's also some more Burzum-esque passages, a little Mayhem touch, while the faster passages practically get Marduk-ish at times - but overall the album runs at a slower pace than that. The vocal work is great, very low BM vocals that fit the raw music perfectly and greatly help giving the atmosphere a few more notches on the grimness scale.

The overall feel of the album is rather dark, violent and downright hateful at times, with a rather depressing aura hovering over all this. Even the more melodic passages don't lighten things up, but rather bring in a dose of rather depressing melancholy. No gimmicks here, just the way I like my black metal. Sacristy marry a number of known influences without coming off as a ripoff, and the atmosphere they create is quite addictive, albeit not necessarily recommended for depressive or deranged individuals. :)

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com