The release I’m reviewing below is real fucking black metal they way it should always be played!! No compromise, No mercy, No hoods, No trends!!
Recently my attention was caught by a demo tape, heavily advertised by the guys behind Battlesk’rs Productions /Ars Longa Vita Brevis with the following statement: “Expect Black Metal the way it should be. Listen and take your dose of filth and devilish extreme music“.
This refers to ICZHIHAL‘s debut demo “Unctus Diaboli“, which came out last June on tape format, limited to 100 pieces. I couldn’t find any info whatsoever about this band, but to be honest I really don’t care about that. Some good things are better left untouched and the less we know about them, the better.
I had to order this tape and now that I have it in my hands I can finally play it and gaze at its simple yet horrifying cover. The demo consists of one Intro (“Dawn of Darkness“) and 3 stand alone tracks, full of viciousness, fury and black devotion. ICZHIHAL delivers in just 19 minutes a slab of feral black metal played in the old ways, with a primitive and slightly melodic satanic frenzy. The massive riffs, the blast beats and of course the possessed vocals create a monumental release which, to be honest, I didn’t think can still exist in these wretched times. But apparently somewhere down below wicked things still stir up in the Devil’s cauldron, ready to be unleashed upon us from time to time. And that can only give me hope.
The most interesting (and unusual) thing about this demo is that there’s no classic pause in between tracks. They literally flow one into another, like one long track split into 4 chapters that play with no interruption. This approach turns the listening into a full experience keeping your senses focused on the music for 19 minutes.
Dissonant guitars, ritualistic drums and voices invoking dangerous entities: this is how the demo starts with the “Intro: Dawn of Darkness“. And then hell follows with it, as the second track, “Unrepentant Salvation“, instantly explodes into a cavalcade or riffs and blast beats. The cursed vocals spew forth venom and brimstone, while the drums mercilessly pound into your brain. The slaughter continues until it reaches track 4, “Imprecations Of The Devil’s Anointed One“, which is also the longest one. And here things take a slightly different turn, but not for long.
This last song happens to be the crown jewel of the “Unctus Diaboli” demo tape, with its morbid and disturbing atmosphere that reeks of ashes and blood stench. Few seconds into the song, the brutal music stops abruptly as a church organ descends upon us. A choir of angelic female voices declare their complete adoration for Satan and Lucifer through a reversed prayer of “Traditio Apostolica“, which initially was a baptismal vow used by the early christians:
“Je renonce à Jésus Christ, à ses pompes et à ses oeuvres et je m’attache à Lucifer pour toujours. Nous t’implorons, Oh Satan, notre Maître et Seigneur, fais que nous soyons toujours plus mauvais, aides nous à accomplir le mal et à l’heure de notre mort accueilles-nous dans ton ordre infernal.“
Once this evil vow of inverted faith and perverted devotion ends, the band resumes its raw black metal assault targeting the last remains of purity left. An evil repetitive riff slowly disappearing in a fade out closes this fantastic demo tape which I had on repeat for several days. This debut definitely left me wanting for more and I truly hope that whoever is behind ICZHIHAL will release a proper full length when the time’ll be right.
So be it / Ainsi soit-il.
ICZHIHAL – “Unctus Diaboli” tracklisting:
1.Intro – Dawn Of Darkness
2.Unrepentant Salvation
3.Antagonistic Esoterror
4.Imprecations Of The Devil’s Anointed One
scrollsofdarmoth.com 
Leave a comment