Altars Ablaze – Life Desecration
Release Date: 16th September 2022
Label: Lavadome Productions
Bandcamp
Genre: Blackened Death Metal, War Metal, Bestial Black Metal.
FFO: Hate Eternal, Perdition Temple, Angelcorpse, 1349, Archgoat.
Review By: Rick Farley
Forged in black by seasoned veterans of the Czech extreme metal scene, Altars Ablaze infernal style of blasting death metal hearkens back to the days of Angelcorpse, Hate Eternal and Diabolic. Blending its bestial self with militant Nordic black metal in the vein of 1349 and Setherial, unleashing a war metal like nuclear sledgehammer to anyone not ready for it. A flawless permutation of the two genres will seize your attention, blurring your senses with relentless aggression. A take no prisoners approach to militant blackened death metal, but not afraid to show creative and compelling artistry in unexpected moments within the sulphurous confines of various tracks. To put it simply, this record will knock you off balance with complex textures and structures, then proceed to bludgeoning the hell out of you with the butt of its rifle. Charging lines of attack using severe concussive force with little mercy. This is eight filthy, artillery blasting songs of warring savagery wrapped tightly in just under thirty-one gloriously callous minutes.
The band’s debut album Life Desecration releasing on Czech label, Lavadome Productions, is the exact opposite of subtlety. Its berserking and bombastic style storms in with frenetic chaos. Low guttural and high scream interplay is a polarizing dynamic to the backdrop of noisy, trebly, serpentine style of riffing. Swirling, twisting blackened tremolo picking, mixed with arcane melodies and guitar polyphony, writhing forward like a serpent slithering through a dense barbaric slog of battlefield atrocities. The choppy and ferocious drums constantly attack, blasting their way through, creating a destructive and pitiless atmosphere. The bass is present in a traditional manner, but the record leans on the side of jaggedly sharp and a high gain treble rawness. Dead set on shredding your skin. The hell-bent songs drown in the under currents of aggressive black metal while retaining a death metal approach to compositional structures, resulting in uncompromising savagery, but with memorable and compelling song writing. For the initiated, Life Desecration will be met with adoration, but for those that are not accustomed to two caustic genres ripe with blasphemy and chaos through atonality, may not be willing to jump right into the battle with this Czech Republic quintet. I’m here to gleefully tell you that you should put down your inhaler and destroy something. This is a flurry of blackened death carnage that asserts itself as a distinctive and fearsome entity that is worthy of your hard-earned cash and the relinquishment of your safety. A thirty-one-minute sonic slaughter.
For anyone unfamiliar, war metal is a reference to a particular style of blackened death metal derived from influences of Morbid Angel and early black metal that’s extremely aggressive up-tempo, muddy with almost early grindcore speed. Altars Ablaze is closest to this description in sound, but contains a much higher focus on musicianship and nuanced riffing rather than just pure noisy aggression. Unique moments are brilliantly strewn throughout this record, such as the delightfully dissonant intro riff barrage on For the Lifeless Love of a Crucified Corpse to the gravely monotone vocals during a devilish slower mid-section of Drenched in Wrath and Blood. The numerous ripping solos brutalise on Glorifications of Rats and memorable chromatic notes on With Bone Crowns and Iron Scepters brings a hookiness to the violence, further pushing the envelope of where this genre can go and still be brutal enough to make you go fetal in a dark corner.
Personally, I find it utterly refreshing when bands devoid of any veneer, show zero interest in being artsy or overly progressive, just volleying up pure cacophonous fucking mayhem. I’m typically annoyed by short albums, but Altars Ablaze has gifted us with one hell of a debut album, promising on and delivering no fucking mercy. 
(4.5 / 5)
