Liber Diabolus: 1991-1996

Fuckin' HELL, I finally checked out this XANTOTOL band from Poland. This compilation of demos from this older band was recently released on CD, and I'm going to order it from Barbarian Wrath's distro. This is really occultic feeling black/doom Metal with eerie synth intros/outros all over the place, punctuating very raw sounding black Metal of the Mediterranean coven. I'm not talking about anything even remotely influenced by any Norse acts, alright? This is more along the lines of the very early works of DEATH SS, VARATHRON, COUNTESS, and HAIL. That means thoughtful and intricate song structures built out of simple but catchy (and at times off-kilter or even downright demented sounding) melodic guitar riffs. The drumming is straight-forward and rocking, never really breaking into anything faster or more complicated than a mid-paced rock beat. This allows for the truly magically possessed guitar riffs to be focussed upon. The vocals are another point of great interest, because they have that gruff, cavernous whispery quality that one can hear on VARATHRON's first demo or that almighty HAIL album. I had high hopes for this piece of music and it has delivered.. I'm sold! Damn it, I love discovering obscurities like this... I get really excited about this kind of Metal on the rare occasions when someone worships at its altar.