Every once in a while I find a mighty black metal band that gets close to the aggression and violence of Panzer Division Marduk, and Brazil's Sanctiphagous get quite close to that sublime sound on this, their first full length. I may need to put an asterisk on full length, because the recording quality differs on the material past the first several songs, and this may be a hodgepodge of previous EPs. It's listed as a full length on the Archives, and it's a great representation of this band's material, so I'll call it a full length as well. On to the music. The tremolo picked riffs here are nearly as tasty as the ones on that classic Marduk record, and the blastbeats just don't stop. I'm not sure if the drums are sampled/programmed or live, but in either case, they're well done. The vocals even remind me of Legion's breathless delivery, half growled, half shrieked, half snarled, and they're sung with conviction and power. The songwriting is equally excellent, relying on shorter songs with fewer riffs and catchy transitions for hooks. Sometimes the songs are only a minute long, which is pretty unique in today's black metal scene. Synths do make a limited appearance on a few songs and they really fill out the sound of the record where they're included, since they're usually included over a slower riff. These sections, however, tend to be my least favorite if only because the music slows down a bit in these sections, and I want that violence to return! Keep in mind, the best recorded, and I'm assuming newest, material is at the front of this record, which is smart. It gives us a great glimpse of what's to come along with the history of recorded material that comes after. No physical format yet, from what I can tell, but you can get this digitally, and I will highly recommend doing so.
