Bestial Mockery - Gospel Of The Insane
Osmose Production - OPCD 174 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Whoa. It's entirely possible that I have never come across a more appropriate album title than Gospel Of The Insane. The feral, feverished black metal on display throughout the thirteen anguished tracks on this disc certainly make me concerned for the band's mental welfare (in fact, on earlier research, I discovered the singer has in fact been in and out of institutions recently). Luckily, however, the somewhat unhinged nature of the ferocity on offer within this album comes at no detriment to some quality songwriting.
Rather than stay limited by their underground black metal aesthetics, Bestial Mockery have absolutely no compunctions about letting their classic rock and punk influences shine through when their compositions demand it, meaning that there's a definite old-school hardcore slant to tracks like 'Father In Heaven' as well as some gloriously headbang-worthy soloing thoughout the proceedings. For the most part, however, furious black metal is the order of the day - blasting drums, flesh-stripping riffage, and lyrics like 'do you get to Heaven/by fucking the corpses' screeched with frightening intensity.
Despite their hell-for-leather intensity, however, Bestial Mockery also show themselves to be more than capable of crafting actual songs, eschewing chaotic blasting for memorable riffage and well-thought out song structures. There's little repetition, and definite elements that delineate songs from one another. 'Out From The Cold - Straight To Hell' features some chillingly melodic lead guitar parts, while 'Selfdestructive Salvation' showcases the band's ability to hit the brakes for full jarring effect before going full-tilt once more. In fact, this is a pretty excellent record all round, and one that I can see appealing to fans of older Darkthrone as much as it would to Impaled Nazarene fans.
8.5/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Osmose Productions' Official Website
Osmose Production - OPCD 174 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Whoa. It's entirely possible that I have never come across a more appropriate album title than Gospel Of The Insane. The feral, feverished black metal on display throughout the thirteen anguished tracks on this disc certainly make me concerned for the band's mental welfare (in fact, on earlier research, I discovered the singer has in fact been in and out of institutions recently). Luckily, however, the somewhat unhinged nature of the ferocity on offer within this album comes at no detriment to some quality songwriting.
Rather than stay limited by their underground black metal aesthetics, Bestial Mockery have absolutely no compunctions about letting their classic rock and punk influences shine through when their compositions demand it, meaning that there's a definite old-school hardcore slant to tracks like 'Father In Heaven' as well as some gloriously headbang-worthy soloing thoughout the proceedings. For the most part, however, furious black metal is the order of the day - blasting drums, flesh-stripping riffage, and lyrics like 'do you get to Heaven/by fucking the corpses' screeched with frightening intensity.
Despite their hell-for-leather intensity, however, Bestial Mockery also show themselves to be more than capable of crafting actual songs, eschewing chaotic blasting for memorable riffage and well-thought out song structures. There's little repetition, and definite elements that delineate songs from one another. 'Out From The Cold - Straight To Hell' features some chillingly melodic lead guitar parts, while 'Selfdestructive Salvation' showcases the band's ability to hit the brakes for full jarring effect before going full-tilt once more. In fact, this is a pretty excellent record all round, and one that I can see appealing to fans of older Darkthrone as much as it would to Impaled Nazarene fans.
8.5/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Osmose Productions' Official Website
