Year: 2024
Label: Rebellion Records

Rebellion Records are really ushering into a new era of crossover as of late – or maybe label owner Wouter is, more like. His band Live By The Sword has been pushing the envelope of how much metal one can mix into oi! without going entirely off the deep end.

And his other project Heathen Peace… well, it goes off the deep end.

Similar to LBTS, Heathen Peace mix together oi! and extreme metal. Where the former seeks and most of the time finds a precarious balance between the two, Heathen Peace plunges deep into a brutal form of rough, gruff metal. Only token elements of oi! remain a lot of the time.

One of those elements are Wouter’s vocals, which will be instantly recognizable to friends of his old band Razorblade. Violent, gravelly, abrasive and utterly rough, his is a bark that screams street credibility. Though he takes it into a somewhat lower, more guttural direction, Wouter doesn’t entirely shake off the bootboy aesthetic inherent in his vocal style.

In many ways, Civilisation Ends Here… could be described similarly: there’s a certain inherent oi! aesthetic or form in the music. But predominantly, this lands in an extreme metal direction, and were it not for the vocals, one wouldn’t probably mention oi! except as the most passing of references. Viciously buzzsawing guitars and blasting drums ooze of black metal (the first riff on Allegiance harks back to Burzum!), whilst the epic, heavy melodicism makes one think of a heavier version of viking metal bands such as Bathory and Falkenbach, or maybe even Enslaved’s epic Eld – with a more straightforward, blunt style to the compositions.

The combination is a surprisingly brutal, in an abrasive way, but still atmospheric album. The dense, heavy production really emphasizes the oomph of the riffing and Wouter’s vocals, putting to the fore just how heavy Heathen Peace can get. Check out Reborn In Power to hear what I mean.

It would be easy to call Heathen Peace a continuation or extension of Live By The Sword. Not only are the musical stylings very similar, but two out of three members of Heathen Peace also play in LBTS – apart from Wouter, bass player Freek. And to boot, the album contains a track, The Inevitable Fall, which originally appeared on LBTS’ debut album Exploring Soldiers Rise (reviewed here). A regular chip off the old block!

But is that all there is to Heathen Peace, to push a bit further the same envelope LBTS has been pushing? I would suppose not, if the project continues to hone their style over further releases. However, even at the risk of wronging Heathen Peace a bit, that’s the simplest way to describe Civilisation Ends Here…

Luckily, Civilisation Ends Here… keeps up the quality of LBTS, so it’s in no way to derisive to compare Heathen Peace to them. I did speak somewhat less enthusiastically of LBTS’ new album in my review (here) than I did of its predecessors, but the conclusion wasn’t negative: it’s a good album. So is Heathen Peace’s debut.

Follow Heathen Peace on Facebook or Instagram