With album artwork that looks like Job For A Cowboy meets a color run, the latest chapter in the death-metal saga of Defiled’s career is no less domineering or pounding than anything else the Tokyo-based band has delivered during their multi-decade existence.
In three short years, Danish singer-songwriter Amelie Bruun has already achieved what many fail to do across a lengthy career, and that is to create art that is interesting and distinctive. With Mareridt (Relapse Records), under the banner of her Myrkur project, she is releasing an album where there is genuine curiosity as to both how it will sound, but also whether she will be able to stride further into a more “mainstream” conscience (the use of the term mainstream being applied quite liberally here… this is unusual and uncompromising music, lest we forget). Continue reading
Here at Ghost Cult Magazine, we all vote on our favorite albums each year. Just a couple short years ago, Behemoth had won with one of their best to date, The Satanist (Nuclear Blast). On April, 24th, 2016, I and the rest of the Boston crowd at the Royale were able to see Behemoth play this masterpiece from front to back at the “Blasfemia Amerika Tour”. Simply mentioning “it was an experience” just simply will not do.
Before getting to Behemoth’s set, we did have an opening band to get us started. The one woman black metal project, Myrkur, hit the stage ready to kickoff what promised to be a great night. Amalie Bruun is the only contributing artist to the project, but she did obviously have some help with a few other musicians (guitarist, bassist, and drummer). One of the strangest moments of the set is when I realized the bassist was no+ne other than Liam Wilson of The Dillinger Escape Plan! The set list was comprised of mostly tracks from the one full length album, M (Relapse), that Myrkur have to offer. Song by song, Amalie moved from guitar to keyboards and from one microphone to the other as her vocals would change mid song from clean to harsh. Finally, Myrkur ended the set with Amalie alone on stage at the keyboard performing a Bathory cover of ‘Song to Hall Up High’ to the fan’s praise.
Finally, after a short break, Behemoth hit the stage with the sounds of ‘Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel’. With each passing song on The Satanist, there were strange videos being played on either side of drummer, Inferno, to really set the mood. At one point in the show, frontman Nergal made his way over a makeshift bridge of sorts from the stage, over the photographers’ pit, and literally into the first row or so of fans. In his hand was a silver goblet, filled with offerings to the fans, his own Holy Communion waffers! The final few in the goblet were lifted above our heads as Nergal crushed them into pieces and threw them into the air in defiance. After the ever epic, ‘O Father! O Satan! O Sun!’, the band made their way to the back briefly but then returned for a second shorter set that kicked off with old classics ‘Pure Evil and Hate’ and ‘Antichristian Phenomenon’. Other hits such as ‘Conquer All’ and ‘Slaves Shall Serve’ were also played to the fans’ delight. But, like all good things, the show came to an end with closer ‘Chant for Eschaton 2000’, complete with projectile blood shots on to the front row from Nergal, Orion, and Seth. With this live show, Behemoth has once again proven why they are atop the metaphorical pedestal of extreme music and have no plans of letting any other bands share that space.
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WORDS BY TIM LEDIN
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