Makeshift Altars

  Willowtip Records doles out another dose of death metal – this time with a twist of Belarusian brutality.     Forgive me, as I’m going to begin with a digression: I revisited the movie As Above, So Below a few weeks ago and since then I’ve become a little preoccupied with the study of Christian mysticism what with all the references to “Dante’s Inferno” strewn throughout its creepy Parisian catacombs setting. Good movie, a little underrated if I do say so myself. Anyway, after I stumbled upon this new Ominous Scriptures release I realized how serendipitous it was that I happened to watch that and suddenly find myself neck deep in old-fashioned theological subject matter regarding heaven and hell, now that I had a matching musical thesis to go along with my research. Now, brace yourselves, because I don’t think we have a Dante Alighieri level of storytelling here (barring the connection of 9 tracks with the 9 circles of hell that is definitely intentional and in ...

    If playing music could be thought of as analogous to painting, Lille Gruber would be the equivalent of a machine programmed to do its best Basquiat impression.       Barring any logic behind the existence of such a machine, you might wonder why this connection would be suggested. Listening to “The Sanguinary Impetus” will tell you exactly why. Not only does he play the drums with a high degree of technical mastery, he does so in such a calculated yet fluid manner, one might think a Boston Dynamics intern may be out on the streets somewhere putting up flyers to try and get him back to the lab he broke out of. Nevertheless, along with his cohorts, he lays down track after track of pure filth and brutality, and (Matrix be damned) he has become exceedingly efficient at it.       The second half of the above analogy stems from the unbridled chaotic artistry put on display each time Lille or any other member of Defeated picks ...