Panzerchrist – Last of A Kind
Release Date: 28th July 2023
Label: Emanzipation Productions
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal.
FFO: Belphegor, Vader, God Dethroned.
Review By: Jeff Finch
At this juncture, given the longevity of this band (over 30 years) not much needs to be said to really introduce them here; however, for the uninitiated, Panzerchrist is a Danish Blackened Death Metal band formed in 1993 who have undergone constant line-up changes in the 30 years since their inception, yet still proving to be one of the premier blackened death metal acts on the planet. Last of a Kind is their first album in 10 years, and in a grand way, it focuses on the blackened, somewhat leaving the death metal in its wake.
Over the course of 40+ minutes, stretched through a mere 8 songs, Panzerchrist pummels listeners with an onslaught of black metal that leaves little room to breathe. Tremolo riffs, blast beats, double bass under the blast beats, a bass guitar not only clearly in the mix, but one that rumbles listeners’ chests over the course of the album, Last of A Kind pulls no punches and proves that a decade out of the scene was of little consequence for these seasoned veterans.
Exceptionally clean guitar passages pepper the album throughout, tucked behind the inhumanly paced tremolo picking, giving listeners something lighter to focus on while they’re beaten into submission; these passages, whether the virtuoso soloing on the title track or the background tapping on the final track Juniper Creek, allow listeners to focus on beauty among the chaos, something light among the maelstrom, and they make the album stronger for this reason. It’s getting hit with a brutal thunderstorm but seeing a rainbow in the distance.
Lead vocalist Sonja unleashes a demonic black metal screech throughout the albums runtime, seemingly shredding her vocal cords while spewing vitriol; there are no clean vocal passages here to provide salvation or a modicum of emotional support. Raw, raspy, unapologetic, Sonja Rosenlund Ahl made it her mission to ensure listeners walked away feeling shaken, like they’ve been put through 40 minutes of hell and won’t soon forget it.
And it’s with that, that we come to one of the few items about this album that could be considered criticism; the entire record is so rife with violent riffs, unrelenting percussion, that it’s sometimes easy to get lost among the vortex, and tracks bleed into one another. It’s a slight critique for an otherwise stellar record, but for someone that has listened to Panzerchrist, or bands of the same vein, it’s not likely that this will make a lick of difference in whether or not to listen. It’s just exhausting to get beat down for so long that a palate cleanser may be required shortly thereafter.
(4.5 / 5)
