Black metal has diversified in recent years with bands employing elements from other genres such as post metal, industrial and thrash to make them stand out from the crowd and reach new audiences. But Danish four piece Horned Almighty couldn’t give a fuck about such deviations and probably think bands that veer off the left hand path are a bunch of snivelling poseurs, for they play black metal the way it was meant to be played; reeking of sulphur, smeared in the foul juices of Bathory and Darkthrone and evil as hell.

After the well received Necro Spirituals (Candlelight Records) dropped in 2010, the band have honed their sound into a well-oiled, blackened machine with enough riffs at their disposal to raze a dozen churches. After the systematic battering of the title track, the utterly infectious ‘Diabolical Engines of Torment’ arrives to wreak havoc on your flesh with its razor sharp leads, pummeling rhythms and deliciously Necro old-school vibe. The swaggering assault of ‘Unpure Salvations’ is nastier than an orgy at the Vatican as the band lock into a disgustingly tight groove while the vicious old-school thrash influenced ‘This Unholy Dwelling’ calls to mind the best of the South American scene in its slavish devotion to the most bestial of bands.

Finishing things off with a gloriously feral cover of Autopsy’s ‘Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay’, Horned Almighty leave no-one in doubt that old-school black metal still has a place in this increasingly grim world of ours and with World of Tombs (Scarlet Records) have crafted a thrillingly blasphemous creation that should unite fans of the old school with those who still believe that bullet belts, the riffs of Quorthorn and sticking two fingers up to progress is still the way forward.

8/10

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JAMES CONWAY