Infernal Rituals

Infernal Rituals is a split album which was released in 2011 that two bands which exist in the Black Metal many years now participate in it. The first four tracks belong to Black Angel from Peru who exist since 1993, they consist of four members and they have released two full length albums and over ten splits. The rest three tracks that complete the album belong to Evil from Slovakia, this band with much experience in music too as it was formed in 2001, it consists of two members and has released many demos and split while in 2013 its first full length album was released. There is not much distance between the two bands, regarding the music that they both present in this split.

The music that Black Angel create, has its roots buried deep into the first years of Black Metal. Black Angel is that primitive Black Metal that we will find in South America, that is violent, furious Black/Thrash in mainly fast speed. The Thrashy riffs, the good structure of the compositions but also the satisfying size of the tracks can drag the listener into a continuous headbanging for the fifteen minutes that their tracks last. The guitars are harsh and violent, they deliver the riffs with much intensity and passion. The bass has simple lines but it feels the sound flawlessly and gives depth to the compositions. The drums are played with good technic and accuracy without losing in passion, while their lines are mainly fast with nice mid paced, rhythmic passages. The vocals are quite expressing, harsh, possessed Black Metal vocals. The production is clean giving a slight emphasis to the bass, while the mixture is balanced. The lyrics aren’t contained in the cd.

The other side of this album, Evil, although they create harsh and violent music too, the Black Metal that they present here is somehow more “technical” and “complicated”. Surely, I don’t mean that you will find something technical in this album. Evil too have their in the harsh Black Metal of the first years, but influenced by the European sound. So here the riffs that the listener will come across are not only harsh, violent riffs but also a lot of rhythmic, Bathory-like parts, slow, atmospheric passages as also some depressing tremolo riffs. The structure of the tracks is quite good. The guitars are harsh and they deliver the riffs flawlessly. The bass is not clearly audible but it fills the sound well. The drums have simple lines, they play a secondary role, but they are played with stability. The vocals are harsh, distant Black Metal vocals, quite monotonous and sometimes somewhat tedious. The production is bass and dirty, delivering a very dark sound. The mixture is balanced, although the bass should have been more audible. The lyrics are written in English and they are not contained in the cd but you can find them on the internet. They speak about the ancient magic and the occult.

This album is the collaboration of two different schools of the harsh Black Metal, of the European and of the Latin. For sure it doesn’t add any new things to the genre, but it can offer to the listener half an hour of pleasant, nostalgic Black Metal. The fans of the sound listen to it. On the other hand I believe that someone who listens to Black Metal is impossible not to like this genre. So I think that it deserves a listen not only by the fans of the sound.