Hellspawn (Pol) - There Has Never Been a Son of Me

Artist: Hellspawn (Pol)
Release Title: There Has Never Been a Son of Me
Year: 2016
Label: Old Temple
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Do Not Be Among Idolatres
2. Hung on a Tree, Damned by His Father
3. Antitrinitarian
4. For the Number Is Human
5. Hallelujah
6. Heralded by Prophets
7. Upon Entering the Valley They Did Not Fear
8. It Is Not Proper for the Gracious to Have a Son
9. Santa Sindone
10. There Has Never Been a Son of Me

Utterly crushing their old ideals, the Polish death metallers under the name Hellspawn have long sought to offer infernal, blasting hymns that used their full-on, intense assault that has been their trademark since the very beginning of their career. With a four-year gap between releases from the band, their third full-length effort was released March 16, 2016 on Old Temple.

Straight from the beginning, there’s a clear idea of the kind of blistering and charging material on display here that continually gets featured. This one is mostly built around tight, frantic riffing and plenty of swirling tremolo patterns in their display of churning mid-tempo paces throughout here, which gives this one such a frantic and intense attack. Keeping the vast majority of the album in such a mainly up-tempo state lets the tight rhythms and crushing tremolo leads dance around to great effect here as the thick riff-patterns generate the kind of intense energy required. That is successfully balanced out by a thumping mid-tempo style that really brings out the tight rhythms to a greater extent that the quicker, more balanced tracks that are far more prominent on here and bring about the kind of dynamics that really get explored here. Although it gets really enjoyable due to this rather strong attack, the fact that it does tend to get lost in these repetitive riffing patterns and paces does tend to undue some of these positives with the album really becoming quite hard to determine what’s going on with the way it continually evokes the same overall approach on many of the tracks. However frenzied and intense it gets, this one tends to go the same way with its attack and that doesn’t do much for the album. Otherwise, this one doesn’t really have much else wrong with it.

Coming across way too familiar to really let the stellar attack get displayed to it’s fullest potential, the fact that remaining features here are so strong and devastating makes this another strong notch in their belt and gives this a lot of appeal to those who prefer this infernal approach to classic death metal.

Score: 87/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://oldtemple.bandcamp.com/album/hellspawn-there-has-never-been-a-son-of-me

Sargatanas (Mex) - The Enlightenment

Artist: Sargatanas (Mex)
Release Title: The Enlightenment
Year: 1999 (2017 reissue)
Label: Conquistador Records (Old Temple reissue)
Genre: Old-School Black/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Eternal Darkness
2. Fear and Suffering
3. The Proclamation
4. Diatribe of the Occult
5. Ritual of the Advent
6. Satan's Curse (Possessed cover)
7. Satanist
8. Veneration of the Black Mark in the Ancestral Forest
9. Doom of Fire
10. Sargatanas
11. Blessed Are the Sons of the Black Flame
12. The Enlightenment

Formed back in 1986, long-running Mexican black/death legends Sargatanas have taken plenty of time to settle on their first professional output as the constant crop of musicians have halted their legacy until the mid-90s when their first demo releases were released. Now finally prepared for their first proper release, the groups’ debut full-length effort was released in 1999 by Conquistador Records before a reissue February 10, 2017 on Old Temple.

Churning out plenty of viciousness, the group display quite a profound and determined understanding of their sound right off the bat on this release. The vast majority of the album contains plenty of slow, lethargic riff-work utterly drowning in old-school tremolo style rhythms, letting this one evoke a truly chilling and darkened atmosphere by droning on through their patterns here. The agonizing patterns, featuring plenty of majestic rhythms and sprawling sections generate the kind of plodding pace that stands out here especially once the album kicks up slightly. These are mainly based on featuring the tremolo riff-work and pounding drum-work in a far more up-tempo and energetic series of patterns that offer a strong dynamic variety against the plodding rhythms here, and with the whole affair completely draped in that raw, churning atmosphere it works so well to its advantage. However, one of the biggest issues here is the fact that this one is just so overlong and bloated that it becomes somewhat of a chore to get through. There comes a point in the later half where it all starts blending into a blur of rather hard-edged but still repetitive tremolo riffing and churning rhythms that sound way too similar to stand-out. Given that this one contains way too many songs for its own good in that format is what ultimately ends up bringing this one down as well since there’s no real reason why it had to be this lengthy and could’ve cut out a few tracks to make it less obvious. Still, for a debut, this isn’t that bad.

While there are way too many repetitive moments here because it’s filled to bursting with too many elements it didn’t need from having so many tracks throughout here, the fact that for the most part it’s still a devastating and dynamic offering makes this a choice look for those that love that raw, old-school black/death metal style.

Score: 82/100