Mutilation Rites - Empyrean LP

MUTILATION RITES (NY, USA) - Empyrean (2012) (Black vinyl) After some solid EPs, the Brooklyn Black Metal band's debut LP finds a way to reinvigorate the old-school Black Metal template with a sound that's stately and epic, but booze-soaked, filthy and feral. They forgo ambient intros, ponderous samples and endless riffing in favour of a tight 35 minutes that manages to feel expansive courtesy of layers of dual guitars, multiple in-song shifts and an ongoing push and pull. It's a mix of raw Black Metal, Dark Doom, and Punk that rocks, but that also offers plenty of prettier surprises. Think of late-period Darkthrone vomiting the youthful version of themselves onto the crowd at a filthy DIY space. Gilead Media ‎– RELIC41