Album Review: Magnus - Scarlet Slaughterer

Magnus - Scarlet Slaughterer

MiL Records - 1989

8.5/10

Out of all the eastern bloc countries that tapped into the metal scene in the '80s, I always felt Poland churned out the most visceral bands, if KAT are anything to go by. Recently, one that tops even them in intensity was brought to my attention called Magnus, a band I've been sleeping on for entirely too long. Simply put, they captured the first-wave black metal movement as well as any South American counterpart. Scarlet Slaughterer was the first full length, a hodgepodge of different directions under this scope.

I say this because, despite the brevity and limitations of early black metal, the burning fury of this expresses itself in several forms. Across the board, you have degraded thrash riffing with varying degrees of tempo but equally mean in execution, thanks to a coarse coating on the surface. Tagging along is an extremely brash vocal style, caking on the raspy shouts pumped full of anger, meeting the occasional falsetto that makes no attempt to come off clean. To round that out, a predictable but welcomed helping of hellish lyrics surrounded by death and destruction give this a campy fascia that nonetheless is loaded with charm.

Sme albums may feel disjointed due to jarring differences in pace, but this general vibe boosts Scarlet Slaughterer rather than harms it. On one hand, you have the steadier bangers that amp up a bass presence for a wavier flow, like "Crosses Of War" and its almost catchy chops. Similarly, you can easily move to "Messenger Of Hell" and its doom-laced crawl. On the other, much of this consists of breakneck slashes that come through in "Pharisee," topped with exceptional solos and gut-punching blast beats. Some fall into hardcore aesthetic, such as the fast and obvious "Rabies" or "Man Condemned," and others feel like a direct nod to early Slayer. In fact, the title track itself sounds like a mangled iteration of "Hell Awaits," if only because of the progressions and delivery.

For its era, Magnus was nothing overly new or original, but I found it to be executed exceptionally. The chaos and corniness gives it lots of charm, the reckless delivery never feels like it lacks focus, and nasty rhythmic integrity is found just below the surface of basically every song. Perhaps the right mood is required for this, but I think any first-wave black metal enjoyer should seek this out.

Album Review: Mortification - Mortification

Mortification - Mortification

Intense Records - 1991

9/10

Australia's Mortification has to be one of my favorite anomalies in existence. By 1991, it wasn't uncommon to find metal of the righteous tongue, but doing it in the death/thrash style in a country that had such little influence in the metalsphere seems like an interesting melting pot in hindsight. Given the extremely raw and absolutely hateful feeling of their style, it almost seems like a paradox. Simply titled Mortification, there's a reason why this still sticks today and works into my regular rotation.

Given that the likes of Sepultura and Morbid Saint had left a pretty menacing mark on the scene, you may expect this to seem like just another one, but a couple things allow this to hold a flame to other classics. For one, the hellish guitar tones meeting the raw atmosphere compliment the straightforward drum blasts that coat this entire record, striking that perfect balance of underproduced but full of clarity. I also wager that this general vibe relishes in more punk-oriented chops beneath the surface than most will pick up upon first listen. I certainly wouldn't go as far as calling this anything falling into the hardcore realm, but the smallest attention to detail will reveal the flavors amidst the thrash foundation.

One of the sneakier examples to me would be "Bathed In Blood" due to its start/stop aura that captures otherwise overtly thrashy rhythms with precise speed. Doing this with such masterful death metal vocals and nothing going over the top is likely one of my favorite features on Mortification. Similarly, shorter numbers like "Break The Curse" sounds like a death-covered Black Flag song, and "No Return" glean hints of crossover fury with its explosive speeds contrasting a calmer center. However, I would even say some songs, such as "Ritual Warfare" almost touch catchiness, mostly because of the sharp basslines pummeling along with the advanced drumming, and the memorable chorus. The longer "Satan's Doom" draws this out into doom territory, but not once does it lose its focus. I guess the short version of saying all of this is that the band has an ear for rhythm, which is sometimes all it takes to be supreme.

I really love how nicely all of these pieces fit together, and that they're executed with such brevity (a theme that unfortunately would not stick around for subsequent albums). Bands like Mortification are so fun, where they take all of the evil themes that Christianity wants to combat and turns them into a proverbial lake of fire meant to capture their figurative threat in musical form. It sounds as evil as the album art looks, but they manage to still sneak three crosses into the logo, matching the covert way righteous messages make it into the otherwise harsh delivery. Anybody that digs the earlier death/thrash sound should absolutely give this holy grail a try.