9 Jan 2017

Lord Impaler: "Babylon Whore"


Many repeat offenses which would have, ironically, been more enjoyable in a more brief format.
Since 1998 the Greek group known as Lord Impaler have unleashed grueling black metal through several demos, finally culminating with severe force in 2011 in the form of the album Admire the Cosmos Black. 2013 saw them continue in the vein of smaller releases with the Babylon Whore EP; With a mere two songs to show, they make up for the short play time with immediate and unrelenting explosions of blast beats and tremolo riffs going the speed of a circular saw.
"...classic northern black metal with more or less everything that entails."

Babylon Whore and The White Dream of Ziz with their traditionally bleak soundscapes are, though energetic and forceful, a bit too standardised to the ways of classic northern black metal with more or less everything that entails. In this sense, the Babylon Whore EP has almost everything you could want - Ruthless drumming that go hand in hand with raspy vocals and menacing guitars. What it doesn't have is spice and flavour; The riffs, though fast and furious, aren't quite so enjoyable when repeated ad nauseam, and the drumming never lets up, creating a taxing atmosphere that makes it almost a chore to listen to over time.

Lord Impaler end up repeating themselves quite a lot. Faster songs don't necessarily have to be quite so long, and personally I would've preferred if these compositions were shorter. Though The White Dream of Ziz has a slower and more controlled section which provides a glimps into more thoughtful songwriting realms, but when it almost immediately collides in a return of the main riff the atmosphere that was building is all for naught. This is the sad story of how most of the EP goes. Brevity in itself can in many cases be preferable to get a point across, but Lord Impaler doesn't seem to think so.

5/10


Released in 2013 independently

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