PANDEMONIUM

In my review of the two-track promo of the “unofficial versions” of the first two tracks for this album (found elsewhere in these pages), I said it was “brutal, atmospheric, abundant in inhuman, razor-gargling, maniacal vocals, tremolo-picked riffs, diminished arpeggios, and relentless skin pounding”. Aside from the improved production, not much has changed. What that promo promised has been delivered. And still, ‘Misanthropy’ is as apt a title as there could be. The grim black metal is laced with elements of death and doom metal, classical, dark ambient imagery, Middle Eastern melodies, and much more. As mentioned above, the production is embellished with sound effects and intros to songs that add weight to the tracks and in the tracks can be heard elements of Celtic Frost and Behemoth. But Pandemonium’s wall of sound, though derivative in some aspects, is wholly their own and the album is all-encompassing in its hellish structures, rhythms and riffs. Wrath, anger, despair, all are encapsulated in these eight torturous and disdainful hymns. Time changes, complex rhythms and riffs, layers of sounds and textures, from ‘The Black Forest’ through to ‘Misanthropy’, Pandemonium summon forth all the enmity that has arisen from millennia of herd mentality to cast down all who have unquestioningly obeyed its self-effacing mantras. Take your time to listen to ‘Misanthropy’. Its pitch black style will reveal its depths through extended consumption. Recommended.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Pagan Records

Album

MISANTHROPY

Review by Jason Guest

RUNNING TIME:

38:32

RELEASE DATE:

10th March 2012

TRACK LISTING

1) The Black Forest
2) God Delusion
3) Necro Judas
4) Stones Are Eternal
5) Avant-garde Underground
6) Everlasting Opposition
7) Only the Dead Will See the End of War
8) Misanthropy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Poland

"The grim black metal is laced with elements of death and doom metal, classical, dark ambient imagery, Middle Eastern melodies, and much more."