Hate "Solarflesh: A Gospel of Radiant Divinity" Review

Hate
Solarflesh: A Gospel of Radiant Divinity

(R.I.P. Sławek "Mortifer" Archangielskij)

They’re back!

Yes, Polish death metal titans Hate have recently graced fans with "a gospel of radiant divinity" in their latest opus, Solarflesh, proving that after 23 years and seven full-lengths already behind them, they’re still very much alive and as ready to kill as ever with this follow-up to 2010/2011’s Erebos. Clocking in at just over one hour long (including bonus tracks), Solarflesh is a brutal assault that we’ve come to expect from ATF Sinner and crew that will sate die-hard, old-school Hate fans, as well as more general fans of death metal as a whole.

The album starts off with a rather slow-paced, three-minute instrumental entitled “Watchful Eye ov Doom” (yes, they’ve taken a page out of brother Behemoth’s book and began using “ov” instead of “of”) that, in all honesty, could have been cut down a bit. It’s three minutes of repetition that could have been cut in half, but nonetheless provides an enjoyable introduction to the album, which picks up a bit with track two, “Eternal Might”. The second-longest track on the album, “Eternal Might” keeps the ominous feel from the intro lingering in the background for about the first minute and a half until frontman Adam finally does his big, bold vocal reveal with a tremendous roar of “black fucking disdain!” through the sudden silence. The main guitar riff in this song is pretty damn enjoyable even though it isn’t anything too complex (simplicity is key!). It has a fun solo courtesy of Destroyer about 3/4th the way through that wouldn’t have hurt anyone being a little longer after its abrupt stop, but there’s nothing wrong with it as is. I personally feel the production on this track was a little off, as it sounded as if Sinner’s vocals were almost pushed behind the guitars a little bit for most of the song’s duration, though this was cured in the following track, “Alchemy ov Blood” which is easily one of my favorite tracks from the album. The first riff in this song is probably one of the most enjoyable parts of the entire album, as is the second solo that’s included about halfway through. Much of the rest of the guitar work in this song is reminiscent of “Quintessence of Higher Suffering”, which was track four on Erebos, so they’re practically picking up right where they left off. “Alchemy ov Blood” is one of those songs that keeps punching you in the face right up until the last second, and gets better and better as it goes.

Unfortunately, in the following track, “Timeless Kingdom”, the production reverts back to what’s found on “Eternal Might”, as the vocals come second to the rest of the band. While enjoyable, “Timeless Kingdom” didn’t have any real “WOW” moments, and about mid-way through the actual music comes second to some strange ambiance that sounds like something that was borrowed from left-over Morphosis recordings. Destroyer triumphs with another solo towards the end, which is rather slow and melancholy, and Sinner joins him in turning the very end of the solo into the outro riff that sets listeners up for “Festival ov Slaves”, which is another one of the album’s shining moments. The shortest track on the album (not including bonus tracks), we hear powerful proclamations of suicide and insanity, the former of which is the main theme of the album. “Festival ov Slaves” is one of, if not the, fastest song found on the album where it would be offensive to not mention Hexen’s drumming, which seem at times to be the focal point of the track. This is where he proves just how fast a drummer he can be, and he does an outstanding job.

Then, we finally arrive at the longest track on the album, “Sadness Will Last Forever”. I, too, snickered at the name the first time I saw the track list, but seriously, don’t let it fool you. This track is sad. Not sad as in pathetic, but sad as in depressing, melancholy, sorrowful, and any other synonym you can think of. It makes you think, “what the hell happen to Sinner between Erebos and this? What the hell happened to our psychologist who mocked Christianity and pathetic human behavior? Who taunted death and spat on the cross? SINNER, WHERE ARE YOU?” He’s there alright, just with a different approach. Instead of taunting death, he’s succumbing to it, and that’s the basis of the lyrical structure for the album. The intro/outro riff of this song is what gives that really despairing feel that someone is more likely to find in, say, DSBM (depressive suicidal black metal) bands like Cheerful Depression. The tone changes a bit throughout the song, however, such as in another enjoyable solo performed by Mateusz Szemraj, a Polish guitarist who was one of three guests on the album, which kind of makes you forget you’re listening to a song about depression/suicide until Sinner starts singing again. After seven sad minutes, the song fades out to oblivion, the final deed done, and then we get OUR ACOUSTICS!

I was so waiting in angst for the acoustics and I was so excited when we finally got them on track seven, the title-track, another of the top tracks from the album. After the acoustic intro to “Omega” on Morphosis and the intro to Erebos, “Genesis”, and others, I craved some of Hate’s acoustic work. The vocals are once again at the forefront of the song once they kick in, and, after the stellar acoustics, the overall pace picks up quite a bit so that it’s up with “Festival ov Slaves” in that respect. Like “Alchemy ov Blood”, it gets better as it goes, staying heavy and brutal throughout. If you don’t love Hate's guitar work yet, you will after the solo in “Solarflesh”, no questions asked. It’s another great one, one of my personal favorites, performed by frontman ATF Sinner. We also finally hear a much-expected reference to Lucifer – very obviously – towards the end, which is good to see they haven’t forgotten how they started.

“Endless Purity” slows down a bit…basically everywhere. The solo is dramatic (not in a bad way) and simplistic, Hexen’s drumming isn’t nearly as fast as the rest of the album (even “Sadness Will Last Forever” was faster), and there’s a bit more repetition on this song than the others. It kind of ranks with “Timeless Kingdom”, as it was devoid of any “wow” moments, but was still rather enjoyable. The following track, “Mesmerized”, was the closing track to the album, but it didn’t really have that closing-track feel to it. It was made a bit dramatic with the addition of a female voice thrown in the background that sounds border-line humorous the first go-round or two. It was slightly weak lyrically at times (“I watch the blood/crimson drops hit the sink” Adam, even you know you can do better than that), and it fades out into the bonus tracks, as if someone assumed giving a song a fade-out automatically qualifies it for being a closing track. Not a bad song, but most certainly not an accurate portrayal of Hate’s potential and skill.

Overall, a solid release from a great band. Did it meet expectations? For the most part, yes. Did it become my favorite release from Hate? Eh, no; Morphosis still holds the crown for myself and I’m sure many others (or Anaclasis, which some see as the band’s best release to date). Solarflesh was a fantastic death metal release that was riddled with suicidal ideology that diverged a bit from the band’s philosophical and irreligious roots, which will probably only make it appeal to a wider audience. With its dark imagery, I give it a pretty decent 88%, as it was a wonderful follow-up to Erebos, and I will definitely be keeping my hopes up that the band visits North America in support of this great album.

Noteworthy Tracks:
Track Three: “Alchemy ov Blood”
Track Five: “Festival ov Slaves”
Track Seven: “Solarflesh”

"Bonus Tracks" Critique
(I personally don’t take points off for any flaws in bonus tracks, so this will be included down here as, like bonus tracks, an extra.) Solarflesh had three bonus tracks: “Hatehammer”, “Venom”, and “Fall ov All Icons”. “Hatehammer” could easily have been switched with “Mesmerized” on the album, as it was overall a much more enjoyable song. It was more hard-hitting, yet had more of a closing-track feel to it than the actual choice. The other two, “Venom” and “Fall ov All Icons”, are better kept as bonus tracks. “Venom” especially, since it was utterly unnecessary and border-line annoying. Both tracks reflect the repetitiveness of the bonus tracks found on Erebos, which a few people were glad that they were restricted to being exclusive bonus tracks only. “Fall ov All Icons” was, again, unnecessary, but more…dynamic and interesting than “Venom”, at least.

(Originally written for headbangerssanctuary.com on Feb. 12th, 2013)

Devilish Impressions "Simulacra" Review

Devilish Impressions
Simulacra

Simulacra is the third effort by grotesquely underrated Polish black/death metallers Devilish Impressions. Excluding its bonus tracks, the nine-track album is nearly forty minutes long and was released in July earlier this year. This album is noticeably different from the band’s previous two releases, Plurima Mortis Imago from 2005 and Diabolicanos – Act III: Armageddon from 2008, but most certainly not in a bad way.

The first song I heard from this album (and thus, the band) was the album’s opening track, “Icaros”. Quazarre, whom you might know from the most recent release by Crionics (the N.O.I.R. EP) and/or the band Asgaard, is responsible for the vocals, guitars, and lyrics, and yes, the lyrics on “Icaros” are relevant to the mythological figure Icarus. One thing that I really love about this album is the fact that every single song, excluding the closing instrumental, “Solitude”, is based on and, excluding “Icaros”, features quotes from a literary piece by a famous author (a list will follow the review for curiosity’s sake). I, being a lover of literature, especially older works like those that were tied into this album’s lyrics, truly appreciated this, as well as Quazarre’s vocal interpretations. He did a wonderful job bringing the poems/excerpts to life and utilized both his unique growls and clean voice. His voice overall, no matter how he uses it, really is special; I can’t think of any other vocalist who sounds quite like him, and he quickly became one of my overall favorites. However, there are no songs on this album other than the first bonus track, “Prince of the East”, where Quazarre doesn’t use his growls. Even though I adore his clean vocals as much as his unclean vocals, this is actually perfectly okay. No matter what kind of vocals Quazarre is doing, they fit into the music easily, and add perfect atmosphere when they need to.

Moving on, up until track three, “Lilith”, there aren’t any guitar solos. I’m not complaining about this, as they aren’t really necessary, just something extra and enjoyable when they’re there. Not useless, but not integral, and it seems the band’s aware of that, as the few aren’t anything too bombastic, and seem to mostly be used for extra emotional emphasis. The fantastic riffs don’t bore the listener and are especially enjoyable when they back Quazarre chanting the chorus on track four, “Fear No Gods!”.

The drumming is also enjoyable throughout the album. Icanraz is obviously quite capable, and doesn’t use blast beats to excess by any means. And, when blast beats are used, they aren’t overpowering like they can sometimes be. Very smooth and consistent throughout, showing Icanraz knows his way around and is pretty respectable, though I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise about someone who names the likes of Gene Hoglan, George Kollias, and Inferno among his main influences, and it certainly shows.

And then there are the symphonic aspects to this album. This isn’t very new for Devilish Impressions, but it was a lot more prominent on Simulacra than their previous releases. Again, though, this is most certainly NOT a bad thing! If you’re familiar with my last review (Carach Angren’s Where the Corpses Sink Forever), you’ll recall that I’ve said bands struggle with finding balance between symphony and the band in symphonic genres. Even though Devilish Impressions doesn’t include as many symphonic elements as other bands do, they seemed to have an easier time finding balance with what they do include. If anything, their ability to find it has improved since 2008’s Diabolicanos, as well as surpassed that of other bands. The symphonics are fantastic and tie the entire masterpiece together very nicely.

And now we’re at the “nothing is perfect” portion of this review. As with my last review, the problems are pretty minimal and do not make me enjoy the album any less.

1.) If you’ve noticed, I’ve said nothing about Vraath, the bass player. Why? Because, as is what seems to be death metal tradition, the bass player isn’t allowed to be heard that often, and unfortunately, Devilish Impressions doesn’t stray from that tradition. Vraath, I’d love to praise you as much as I did Quazarre and Icanraz, but I can’t even hear you.
2.) I have to be fair and say, though this didn’t bother ME too much, some may think that the lyrics had too little an amount of originality with how much was taken from various literary works as I mentioned. It’s certainly made clear that Quazarre loves his poetry, but some people may want to see more of what HE’S capable of as opposed to already-famous authors (though what he did write was fantastic, specifically all the lyrics for “Icaros”).
Aside from that, the only complaint I had was that the album was too short and I wanted more by the time it was over, but I suppose that can be viewed as a good thing. I hope their next album resembles Simulacra, as it certainly won me over. With its beautiful cover art, I give it a very well-deserved 94%. As far as picking my 2012 favorites, Simulacra certainly gave Carach Angren’s release a run for its money! Check it out when you get a chance, as it’s well worth it, especially if you’re a fan of bands like Vesania.


Noteworthy tracks:
Track One: “Icaros”
Track Four: “Fear No Gods!”
Track Eight: “The Last Farewell”

 

Literary References Within Simulacra:
Track Two, “Legion of Chaos”: “Obsession” by French poet Charles Baudelaire
Track Three, “Lilith”: “Panthea” by Irish writer/poet Oscar Wilde
Track Four, “Fear No Gods!”: “The Inferno” by Italian poet Dante Alighieri
Track Five, “The Scream of the Lambs”: “Songs of Innocence – Night” by English poet William Blake
Track Six, “Spiritual Blackout”: “A Spirit Passed Before Me” by British poet Lord Byron
Track Seven, “Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici”: “The Coliseum” by author/poet Edgar Allan Poe
Track Eight, “The Last Farewell”: “The Reaper and the Flowers” by American poet Henry Longfellow
Bonus Track One, “Prince of the East”: “Dr. Faustus” by English dramatist/poet Christopher Marlowe

*“Prince of the East”, it should be said, is a vocal interpretation of excerpts from Scene V of Dr. Faustus, performed by Quazarre and Orion (Behemoth/Vesania), the former playing the part of Doctor John Faustus, the latter playing the part of Mephistophilis, that features no other musicians. It is not sung, but spoken.
*The second bonus track is “Somnambulistic Masquerade”. It is a digital-only bonus track, and very little is known about it. Both bonus tracks are available on Spotify, and are, like the rest of the album, well worth listening to.

(Originally written for headbangerssanctuary.com on Dec. 13th, 2012)

Carach Angren "Where the Corpses Sink Forever" Review

Carach Angren
Where the Corpses Sink Forever

This symphonic black metal trio has been taking the black metal scene by storm as of late, most notably with their third album released earlier this year, Where the Corpses Sink Forever. Hailing from the Netherlands, Carach Angren, comprised of Seregor on guitars and vocals, Namtar on drums, and Ardek on keyboards and orchestral aspects, has been receiving incredible feedback and praise, specifically for Ardek’s orchestrations, since their first full-length album, Lammendam, released in 2008. Two years after this, they presented even more brutal and majestic work with their sophomore album, Death Came Through a Phantom Ship. Both albums tell the stories of different Dutch legends; the former being of a white ghost that haunts a town that bears the same name, and the latter being of the Flying Dutchman. Their most recent beast does not change the story-telling aspect of their lyrics, except this time, it tells a story, or rather several stories, they wrote themselves.

Simply put, this album is incredible; forty-four minutes of thrilling greatness. The first thing that’s noticed on this album is Ardek’s aforementioned orchestrations. Each song contains a different masterpiece, sending listeners on a wild range of emotions depending on the story that’s being growled at you by Seregor. For example, the violin melodies in “The Funerary Dirge of a Violinist” are pure beauty; you can just feel the despair of the war-torn violinist in the notes as they evoke feelings pity for the fictional, nameless character. Of course, sadness and pity aren’t the only things felt from the melodies. Later on, in tracks such as “General Nightmare”, they create a great atmosphere that you can easily imagine being the soundtrack to the scene being described in the lyrics if it were turned into a screenplay of sorts: a desperate, confused, fast-paced urgency that easily gives you chills the first go ‘round or two.

However, Ardek isn’t the only one that throws emotions in your face; Seregor is a great vocalist for several reasons. He adds more emotion to his vocals than I’ve ever heard – give “Funerary Dirge…” or “Lingering in an Imprint Haunting” a listen, you’ll see exactly what I mean – and he knows just how to make his listeners shiver if that’s what the band wants. Is he your typical black metal vocalist? Absolutely not. Does he have the most impressive range? Not that we’ve seen thus far, but it’s clear that he’s aware of this. He doesn’t push himself to do false shrieks he’s incapable of doing, and he doesn’t risk shredding his vocal chords doing gutturals he can’t pull off. Does his voice get low at times in the album? Indeed, but only for the sake of emphasis and horror; the deeper growls never last too long, but even so, they’re impressive. His voice, at least in my opinion, is one-of-a-kind, it’s quite different, but in a welcomed, refreshing sort of way. It’s hard to capture the essence of his vocals in words, quite honestly, but I tried. They’re fantastic, you’ll just have to take my word on it.

Namtar’s drum work and Seregor’s guitar melodies complete the masterpieces perfectly. The drums aren’t too over-powering, nor are they unrecognized. Plenty of blast-beats throughout the album, but they aren’t relied on. Namtar isn’t distastefully fast or boringly slow, he’s just right. If I had to say, it’s as if Daray (Vesania/Vader/Dimmu Borgir) and Dominator (Dark Funeral) had a child. At times, the guitar riffing sounds like something that would be found more in the melodic genres as opposed to the symphonic genres, but they fit in well, adding the final, icy touch to the already-frigid works of art.

I personally think it’s safe to say that Carach Angren are the up-and-coming kings, or at least princes, of the symphonic black metal genre. Arguably the element that bands struggle with the most in this genre is finding equilibrium between the symphony and the band, with the failure usually being in the reliance on symphony. That isn’t the case with these boys. It’s clear they know what they’re doing and they know exactly what they want and what works. With Where the Corpses Sink Forever they were able to once again successfully find common ground between black metal and symphony to create an amazing album.

Unfortunately, and I hate to say it, nothing is perfect. Are there flaws with this album? As with every other. My main problems with this album are small, nit-picky details, so nothing too dire that will make me change my mind at all about it as a whole.

1.) The first issue I had was with track seven, “General Nightmare”. I do really enjoy this track except for the fact that I thought the lyrics were a little bit less inspired than the rest of the album. The phrase “general nightmare” was repeated too much for my personal liking throughout, and, compared to the other tracks, the lyrics just seemed a bit lacking overall.
2.) After I went back and read the lyrics, I noticed something seemed out of place in track three, “Bitte Tötet Mich” (“Please Kill Me” in German). Here’s where I got nit-picky: when Seregor is speaking as the nameless, suicidal soldier, the speech turns German. The change in language isn’t my problem, the delivery of the lyrics is. If you don’t read/translate the lyrics here, you would think it was perhaps an officer speaking to the soldier as opposed to what it actually is: the soldier continuing his soliloquy. The demeanor of the speaker is just horribly inaccurate and misleading.
3.) At certain times, I felt as though the drums could have been a little louder. Just a small bit in a few places, such as on track two, “Lingering in an Imprint Haunting”. Nothing at all against Namtar and his work, but, logically, I can’t enjoy what I can’t hear!

That being said, I give Carach Angren’s Where the Corpses Sink Forever a solid 94% and I await their next masterpiece with eager ears!

Noteworthy tracks:
Track Two: “Lingering in an Imprint Haunting”
Track Four: “The Funerary Dirge of a Violinist”
Track Eight: “Little Hector What Have You Done?”

(Originally written for headbangerssanctuary.com on Nov. 27th, 2012)

Death Satan Black Metal: Let’s Rant!

Alright, so welcome to post number four, “Death Satan Black Metal”, where I’m going to post my first rant. I’m going to start with a rather simple topic for this, being that it is my first (probably of many) rant(s) that I will be posting. It’s a topic that isn’t exactly…uncontroversial within mostly the “extreme” genres of metal, and is often brought up in comments on videos by people who really have no idea what the hell it is they’re arguing about, and are more than likely just trolling in hopes to gain attention or cause a stir.

No, this isn’t going to be a rant about the sometimes-amusing aspects of black metal videos, or the occasional cheesy lines in certain songs.

Nope. This is going to be about “fashion”.

Please, feel free to groan in disgust…

Jari of Wintersun approves of your groans! (Taken from the Gamma Rayquaza page on Facebook.)

…but make sure you continue reading once you’re done so you know just what side of this argument I’m on.

Now that you’re finished groaning (I hope), chances are that I’m probably on your side with this debate…

…so long as “your side” is the side where bands worry way too damn much about how they look in clothes these days, then yeah, I’m actually definitely on your side. Seriously. Certain bands’ obsessions with clothing and appearance these days have just gotten so out of hand. I’m not talking about wearing corpse paint and bullet belts or anything; hell, even those long gowns or “dresses”, as some people like to refer to them as (really, I’m not all too sure to call them myself so we’ll probably stick to ‘gowns’ on this one), are fine by me. Some guys – keep in mind I am a matron – even look pretty good in them, though of course good looks are not the key criteria for making some excellent metal, whatever sub-genre it may be.

AND NEITHER ARE THE GOWNS OR ANY OTHER ELABORATE COSTUME YOU FEEL IS NECESSARY.

Source: metalmemes666.tumblr.com (thanks to Tumblr comrade urdjupet for helping me find this).

Yes, Shagrath, black metal is a form of music, not a fashion statement, though at this point I wouldn’t call your band black metal (rant for another time!) to begin with. If you want to wear corpse paint and look like a bad ass (not being sarcastic with that one) and show off your skill in aesthetics if you think it increases your stage presence and theatrics

Dutch symphonic black metallers Carach Angren show off their sick corpse paint.

then, buddy, go for it.

If you want to get all dressed up for a music video and look the part in something that usually requires you to take on a completely different role and is for the purpose of making yourself look like a bad ass gladiator or something or other

Nergal in Behemoth's "Alas, Lord is Upon Me" music video.

then god damn, do it; because the result, such as the photo posted above, can look incredible.

If you want to wear chain mail or ten pounds of leather or gowns or masks or cover yourself in corpse paint because it fits with your “image” and translates well with your music (don’t go on stage in corpse paint and complete gladiator get-up if you’re in a power metal band unless it’s Halloween) then holy hell that’s your decision.

 

So where’s my rant?

Here it is:

Do. Not. Make this your main focus, and stop being so concerned with what you’re going to wear with your next album. You do not need to be covered head to toe in leather and metal like Mister Shagrath depicted above in order to “be black metal” (whatever the hell kind of black metal he’s trying to be there) or to “be death metal”. You do not need to “look the part” in order to be a part of a black metal band. Corpse paint is not a requirement! Don’t believe me? Try this: it’s a choice.

Emperor chose to ditch their corpse paint and they’re one of the most known black metal bands currently (granted they are not longer together, sadly).

The only two members of Mayhem (the “true” era) to wear corpse paint were Dead and Euronymous.

Dissection is not wearing corpse paint in any of their pictures.

Compare the number of photos of Varg Vikernes with corpse paint to those of him without it. In some of his most iconic photos, he is depicted without corpse paint.

Do I really need to even mention Quorthon.

Do I even need to say Venom.

These guys were the some of the first. These guys laid the freaking foundations for the genre! How often did you see any of them dressed like Behemoth was in the Evangelion photo shoot (except for maybe Varg)?

Not very.

I’m not knocking Behemoth or anything (as I’ve said previously, they are one of my favorite bands and I’m even listening to Evangelion as I type up this rant), but it’s just gotten to the point of being irritating recently. Especially now since so many, SO MANY bands are turning to Toxic Vision for their clothes. It looks like every band is wearing the same damn thing! Your vest does not need to be that elaborate, especially considering the people watching you are either going to be blinded by flashing lights or fog, in complete darkness, or too busy headbanging to even care about how many studs you managed to fit onto your clothes (not that they’d really care anyway). You do not need pentagrams sewn into your jeans, or raggedy-looking outfits that look like you stole them from an orphan before you walked into the venue. You don’t need silk hoods, because honestly we want you to headbang with us and that’s just going to get in the way.

You don’t need to be so fucking elaborate. It is getting to be so unnecessarily showy that it’s almost sickening. I’m not trying to berate Toxic Vision or anything – seriously, that’s not my intention; I’m arguing against the fact that bands feel the need to wear these ridiculous pieces, but I am not attempting to belittle the designer’s efforts (and even if I was, this is my opinion which I am entitled to, and I will post on my blog if I feel is relevant) – but it’s getting pretty annoying when I actually know now what to expect whenever a band announces their allegiance with TV for their new gear.

And it’s getting kind of boring.

First, it was Shagrath’s overly-studded vests and pants, to the point where I personally thought it just looked horrendous and completely over-thought, followed by Behemoth announcing that they were using the same designer for the release of The Satanist, shortly after which I saw photos from Poland’s Impact Fest and was not very impressed (almost let-down by Nergal’s outfit, in fact, and disappointed that Orion’s vest looked incredibly bulky and he had his hair in a pony tail, both of which, it seemed, prevented him from windmilling, though I’m sure there’s a better explanation for that as I am aware he has experienced neck pain from doing so in the past). At some point, Týr had vests made for them for one of the Paganfest tours, which were admittedly better, to me, than Behemoth’s outfits but still extremely over-the-top, and now Turisas has fallen in line with these guys and I could have told you what they would look like before I even saw the pictures.

More than that, as someone commented on a photo for their new album posted to Facebook, everyone is starting to look like they’re in the same band…like TV clothes are becoming a uniform for god sakes. The predictability in the outfits is too high for so many bands to start having TV as the source of their stage outfits. I want to look at Turisas and think “Turisas, Warlord, Olli!”; not look at Behemoth and think “did Seth borrow that jacket from Mathias?”

Before some people start taking this the complete wrong way and before I accidentally make that the focus of this rant, which was not at all my intention but was a relevant portion that needed to be included, let’s move on to comments such as this:

Comment from Bruce Payne on Hate's "Threnody" music video.

"Everybody in the band looks the part, but the singer. He looks like a pussy. they need to find someone better that looks the part. and this band would look and sound really awesome."

He doesn’t look the part.

ATF Sinner

does not look the part

in his own band.

Hate sporting some 'gowns'.

Let me think this over…

Okay, thought about it.

You’re a fucking moron.

So what exactly is it about this comment that gets under my skin? The simple fact that the Mush-For-Brains commenter paid absolutely no attention to the band's sound, and instead let his judgement be clouded purely by how they look, specifically ATF Sinner, the frontman/vocalist/guitarist/founder of the band (the first two photos are actually from the Morphosis era, which is the album that possesses the song in question). He automatically passed judgement on the band solely based off how they looked. Not Sinner's vocals, not Destroyer's guitar sweep at the very beginning of the song, not Hexen's impeccable drumming, not Mortifer's windmilling if we want to focus on visual aspects...nope. None of that mattered simply because, to this shallow individual, ATF Sinner "looked like a pussy". 

So no, it's not just bands that focus far too much on the way they look, it's certain "fans" as well. If you are the kind of idiot who thinks that replacing someone who looks weak or doesn't "look the part" will automatically make a band sound better, you need to hit yourself in the face with a frying pan.

If you are a "fan" who passes judgement on a band based off of how they look and NOT based off their level of talent, you need to hit yourself in the face with a steaming-hot frying pan, repeatedly.

I'm not a purist who is trying to revert back to cardboard-box-quality black metal (as I said, this rant is about clothes, not the music itself) or wearing nothing but black jeans, black leather jackets, black this, black that, bullet belts, corpse paint, and yadda yadda yadda. If you wear that, I don't care. If you wear what Behemoth wore for The Apostasy, I don't care. If you're in the middle like Quazarre and the rest of the Devilish Impressions crew, I don't care. Just do not make clothes your focus. Do not spend so much time worrying about what your next outfit is going to be, or how you can one-up your last one, or how elaborate you can be...or how many damn studs you can cram onto the back of a vest. Wear whatever the hell you want.

Just play some good metal while you do.

KRYPT-Death Satan Black Metal