I, Voidhanger has been doing some very interesting stuff in recent years with their work in the avant-garde metal scene. So many of the records they put out aren't just incredibly weird and forward thinking, they are downright terrifying. I think it's important to remember that a lot of us got into metal for the same reasons that we got into horror films, that it caused a visceral reaction, that it was scary. Hell, that's how Black Sabbath had the whole concept of metal laid out in the first place. Such is the case too for Devil Worshipper.
This is a band whose atavistic remonstrances and twisted melodies are certain to haunt you through your darkest hours, whose demonic meditations are not only freakish and not of this world but also speaking to a breadth and apostasy that few of us can truly comprehend. In a world where people talk more about death metal bands merch than they do about their music, Devil Worshipper have put out something truly unsettling, borrowing just as much from Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music as from Death.
This is a record that is truly freaked out and over the top. They seem to experiment endlessly with avant sounds, deeply unsettling stuff and music that will haunt your mind. Devil Worshipper have used a while bevy of twisted ideas on Music For The Endtimes to create a veritable howling soundtrack to the apocalypse that revels in its own twisted madness clawing at your sanity and forces you to deal with demonic remonstrances. The fact that any of this is couched in the history of western music is almost blasphemous.
The sheer level of intensity on these tracks with their rapid-fire drums and triumphant blazes in the northern sky only further the weirdness of this band and what Devil Worshipper has so quickly come to stand for. When the occasional creepy acoustic passage kicks in, the change of direction is shocking and unexpected, it leaves you off-balance and then ready to get your face smashed in all over again.
All that being said, you can still definitely tell that Music For The Endtimes is Devil Worshipper's first real release. At times it doesn't feel totally sure of itself and some of the sonic components don't exactly lock in the way that they were intended. This is a unique journey at times and one that occasionally brings you down into even darker depths. I think that as the execution of this band improves then the rest of the project will be elevated. It's the sort of thing that can only happen with experience, and the members previous experience really shines through here in how they make something this complex work as well as they do.
This is definitely an interesting take on death metal as a whole and a fitting next step in the legacy of Matron Thorn, who still stands as one of the most important avant musicians in the metal world today. As the group develops they may just leave me gibbering.
