Review: The Beast of the Apocalypse – A Voice From the Four Horns of the Golden Altar (2009)
Sometimes, I don’t get raw black metal. I feel like bands who fit into that genre try way too hard to be kult and true to what they feel is the ultimate sound of black metal. Recording your albums to create a wall of sound with very little variation from riff to riff, from song to song, does NOT make good music. You don’t have to have melodies, and you don’t have to have a polished sound, but recording your music to purposely make it sound like a shitty demo recorded in 1992 just isn’t cool. Do you think Mayhem would have recorded their early demos the way they did if you had the money and access to proper recording studios? Hell no! You may state otherwise, but history has shown that black metal bands that have thrived, have overcome the juvenile need to sound evil by defying all traditional rock traditions. This isn’t a competition, you don’t need to prove how fierce you are. However, when I hear Netherlands based The Beast of the Apocalypse, all the common sense the black metal scene has realized over the last decade is thrown out the window. Their latest release, A Voice From the Four Horns of the Golden Altar, is complete retro black metal, and has systematically eliminated every progression black metal as taken in terms of artistic expression. This is a raw, Venom and Mayhem inspired wall of noise with almost zero variation from song to song. In other words, this band is all about poorly recorded speed metal with zero hooks and zero melodies. Its just a straight shot to the next song for more of the same. There may be an audience for this type of black metal, but this is the very stuff that made me take forever to enjoy this type of metal.
The Beast of the Apocalypse are not amateurs who don’t know what they are doing, they set out to design an album that is a cognizant look back at the origins of black metal’s early years while sacrificing production values and unique musical expression. There’s nothing wrong with honoring a sound that inspired you, but recognizing where the movement has gone and the future that it will become is just as important as the past. TBOTA can write and play as they wish, but I will continue to hear it as being sub-par music. Certain punk bands think they can get away with sounding like shit too, but there’s a proper way to play stripped down rock music that sounds good while making a point, the same stands for black metal. You can achieve the desired affect that TBOTA set out to do and make it creative and good ala early Mayhem. I can hear riffs in each song that could have sounded promising had they been properly produced, but until that happens, this album is virtually un-listenable to me.
BLASPHEMY!
Similar Artists: Venom, Mayhem
1. Etemenaki: Temple of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth
2. The Key of the Bottomless Pit
3. A Voice from the Four Horns of the Golden Altar
4. The Hypothasis of the Archons
5. And they Withdrew Up to their Heavens
6. Twins of Jesus
H.T. Mozes – Guitar, Vocals, Synths, Drums
S. Serpentijn – Bass, Vocals, Synths, Drums
Transcendental Records
Review by CODY
Pretty much all their songs focus on all the elements of black metal I can’t stand.. so goddamn repetitive.
hahahaha there is no accounting for tastes, but i get the feeling both of you guys really don’t get what this band is all about. to be honest i’m guessing both you guys must be relatively young (twenty something or probably less). that you compare them with VENOM, MAYHEM actually betrays both your youth and lack of knowledge of black metal. in my opinion these guys could do with a better production but that’s really NOT what this is about. this is all about FEELING, something old bands have an abundance of and is severly lacking in newer bands (not in the case of TBOTA)
How does comparing a black metal band to the production values in Venom and Mayhem expose my lack of black metal knowledge? Those are quintessential examples of legendary bands wth purposeful bad production. I’ll be the first to admit that black metal isn’t my fortay, but terrible production is terrible production, and the metal behind it just isn’t good enough to justify it being so piss poor. Every black metal fan always call out detractors by saying “you just don’t get it” and that is such a cop out. You can make raw black metal sound good, but these guys didn’t. Its a real simply formula. I don’t care what the artist’s artistic expression was when forming this, if it doesn’t sound good I am going to say so considering that’s my job,
boosh