Boy, I love typing out this CD's title on my PC. It drives the auto-spell check nuts.
Ladies and gentlemen, behold the first truly unblack metal CD to grace both the secular and Christian metal scenes. Sure, some would argue Vengeance Rising to be the first unblack metal band, but let's face it, Vengeance was more thrash oriented. Horde is one of the first stabs at European black metal, where the style was birthed in the early 1990s with bands like Absurd, Mayhem and Burzum.
Hellig Usvart is unlike any such metal CD I've ever heard. The guitars are tuned to E (a rarity in extreme metal), the bass is virtually nonexistent, the drumming is pure blast beat, the vocals are the eeriest skreak this side of a banshee, and the song titles, instead of one- or two-word allusions to the lyrical content, are pretty much self-explanatory. Take, for instance, "Blasphemous Abomination Of The Satanic Pentagram", "Release And Clothe The Virgin Sacrifice", "Drink From The Chalice Of Blood", "Silence The Blasphemous Chanting", or my personal favorite, "Invert The Inverted Cross". The lyrical content is one of the first I've encountered to deal with black metal satanism in a no-holds-barred way. Snippets from the songs: "Crush the star under foot / Tear the robe on which it lies / Accursed image it portrays / Symbol of blasphemy will never rise" from "Blasphemous Abomination Of The Satanic Pentagram"; "Hell awaits the demonic forces who seek to pervert the Cross / Flaming hellfire destruction is their final dwelling place" from Invert The Inverted Cross; "Goat of blasphemy, satanic symbology / Tear out the eyes, leaving bloody holes / Total obliteration includes decapitation" from "Crush The Bloodied Horns Of The Goat". Is it any wonder you can't find this CD in most PG-rated music sections at the local Christian bookstores?
Hellig Usvart was recently re-issued on Rowe Productions, so it's easier to find than the Nuclear Blast version. It should be noted that Nuclear Blast was receiving death threats from area black metal satanists because of their releasing Horde on a mostly secular death metal label, which is why the Nuclear Blast version is harder to find. I strongly recommend this CD. It receives much spin time in my player, not to mention several metal heads asking about it. Good witnessing tool as well.
8/10
Other coverage for this album
Dead Zine 2002Reviewed by SORGThis disc has been shrouded in more mystery and controversy than possibly any other Christian metal album in history. When this cd first appeared on the scene in 1994 the fact that it was done by one man calling himself Anonymous and was released as a direct retaliation against the Satanic black metal scene in Norway at the time, whose arguable leader Euronymous had been killed by fellow black…Dead Zine 2002Reviewed by thOrNNo it's not the infamous H.O.R.D.E. festival fronted by the alterna-elite, it's the full effect unblack metal sounds by some guy in Australia. That's right all instruments are one dude, and his name is Anonymous (for real) and with music this anti-black I agree with not putting your name on it. It's also a bag on the old Euronymous of satanic black metal fame that committed suicide awhile back.…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestThis is a 1994 release that was reissued last year. This album caught some attention from extreme metal fans worldwide as it was the first black metal album with Christian lyrics that found its way into the secular market by distribution through Nuclear Blast. It has the same visual approach as other black metal releases with a capricious band-logo and a cover-picture of a graveyard at night.…Heaven's Metal #54Reviewed by Doug Van PeltHere is an interesting project. I still remember the first time I listened to it - in the back seat of a car parked at the Black Stump Festival in Australia. Anonymous, the vocalist and instigator of the entire project, explained to me the musical nuances and lyrical insights as curious people walked by the car wondering what this extreme noise was. As extreme metal goes, it will now have to look…Similar sounding releases
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2000Armageddon HolocaustIn Total Destruction
1996EmperorIn the Nightside EclipseThe Bumpus HoundsThe Pit Dug for the Wicked
1999ClemencySpiritual Domination
1998ExcisionThe Quality of Mankind
