Egregors of the Black Faith

"Egregors of the Black Faith" is the debut album by this Salvadoran thrash / black metal band. This album is one more example of what I am going to call “the Morbid Skull sound”, based on the style and characteristic production in several Morbid Skull Records releases for Salvadoran bands.

When the introductory incantation ends, the fast drumming along with the bass guitar create a deafening rumble in the background. The guitar offers a wide variety of easily identifiable riffs and the diversity of influences found in them is well appreciated. Solos are excellent even though they have very high prominence in the mix. The voice is guttural style with some occasional shrieks that accentuate the hybrid style, being clear enough to understand most of the lyrics full of esoteric content. Witchgöat mixes European black and thrash metal in the style of the forerunners of Latin American extreme metal. The characteristics that we already know take shape to create a new tribute to the violence in music that emerged in the eighties and is still strong today. The only weak points are: "Emanations from the Underworld'' which has a long slow section, and "Beyond the Soil of the Dead'' since it loses intensity due to its progressive section that seems to be out of place among brutal thrash black.

Two versions were released on CD, one in Digipak splattered with blood and signed by the band, that includes a booklet with lyrics. There are also two versions on black and white cassettes, one of these splattered with blood. As expected, I like the sound of the tape better than the CD, but it is worth getting both versions if possible.

Originally written for Metal Extremista Webzine