BLACK COMMUNION: Miasmic Monstrosity
Release year: 2020
Label: Dunkelheit Produktionen
The album cover isn’t a tell-tale sign – it looks like a rather generic black metal album cover with a rather generic black metal band logo – but from the first seconds into the first song proper, Of Doom And Necromancy, you know what you’re in for.
War metal. Bestial black metal. Call it what you want, that’s what you get: that chaotic, rabid amalgamation of old school black metal and crude death metal that couldn’t give a fuck about things such as polish or finesse.
The Colombian band, who formed in 2013, have already released one full-length album previously as well as a number of smaller releases. It shows that Miasmic Monstrosity isn’t Black Communion’s first attempt at cutting a full-length, as their take on the primitive approach to black metal is solid and confident.
Of course, as is more often than not the case in this narrow and boneheaded genre of extreme metal, it is quite easy to describe Black Communion’s sound by namedropping a few references. Yes, of course you can name the usual suspects – Blasphemy et al – but to me the main references go all the way to the land down under, Australia, in the form of Bestial Warlust and Abominator. In the same manner, and unlike the black metal skinheads of Blasphemy, Black Communion rarely go in for the blitz-speed blasting and mindlessly frenetic sawing. Instead, even when blasting, the tempos of the trio remain slower, and the riffing more… well, riff-like. Not the chaos of throwing your guitar down some cosmic gulf of bestial madness. Where Blasphemy and old school Beherit sounded rabidly slavering, Black Communion (and Abominator, and Bestial Warlust) sound like they have a degree of control left to their raving.
And, I’m happy to say, the Colombians do their thing quite adequately. Whilst certainly not a coming cornerstone of the genre, Black Communion have managed to create a very solid piece of bestial war metal; one that remains true to the blueprints of the genre to a tee, but despite not sounding fresh at all, is very enjoyable. And I guess that’s just about as good as a bestial black metal album anno 2020 can be, right?
Like I’ve said before, it takes a special kind of numbskulled freak to enjoy bestial black metal albums beyond the obvious classics. I mean, undeniably this is a genre where the stylistic horizon is rather narrow, and where progressivity and forward-thinking are frowned upon.
But, if you are one of those neanderthal freaks who finds enjoyment in the sometimes even miniscule variations to this sound and approach offered by the throngs of purveyors within the field, make sure to check Black Communion out. Yeah, you’ve heard everything on the album before, but it’s still fucking good.
3.5/5
Only Death Is Real 