REVIEW FOR FEBRUARY 9, 2004 (MARCH 21, 2004)

BLOOD CULT
METAL FROM HELL
SELF-RELEASED, 2002
4 OUT OF 5
 
Black metal.  I'm not the biggest fan of the subgenre.  I can understand the raw sound and lyrical subject matter but when someone tries to force me to look at something like BM as the forefront of the anarchist anti-Christian zeitgeist I have to laugh.  It just seems so invented - the idea that a band playing simple three or four chord arrangements and a drum machine can equal the best and worthiest of spiteful misanthropic art doesn't jibe with me.  I don't care if the bands add to that by killing goats, burning churches, having personal hatreds for certain races, nursing religious conspiracy theories or whatever; the music itself is more often than not pretty damn uninspired and dull.  It's hard when what is supposed to be a crystalline embodiment of the best the pagan hordes can offer often sounds like a dull rehash of what came before.  Shit, black metal can have its exciting moments but "bla bla bla fuck Judeo-Christian ideology worship the wolf" over three chords and a kick drum miked way too loud in the mix gets pretty damn redundant after a while.
 
Not so Blood Cult.  The lyrics on Metal From Hell are decently-written but bog-standard black metal fare, granted, but there's something about the sound of this band that's endearing to me.  Perhaps it's Blood Cult's punk footing (although not blatantly obvious like you'd think) and the fact that the band can actually play worth a damn that makes me understand what it's doing.  It might have to do with the shitty production, which is almost a prerequisite for black metal.  Somehow I'm betting it's the fact that Metal From Hell actually has some damn energy going for it.  The kick drums are low in the mix for a change and don't detract from the simple yet energetic arrangements found within.  Reverend's voice is raspy but not overdone or poorly sung.  Hell, the outside influences (some psychedelia, the clean vocals and odd Southern rock sound at the beginning of "My Soul To You") don't even sound out of place on this album, which surprised the hell out of me.  Metal From Hell exceeded all expectations I had for it and I honestly dig the crap out of the album.  It's obvious Blood Cult "gets it" - for nihilism to work in music, it has to be there in the music itself.  Other bands would do well to learn that lesson.
 
Holy shit, did I just write a serious music review?  Crap, I think I started Armageddon.
 
BLOOD CULT
2021 W. Sunset
Decatur, IL 62522
USA
http://www.indietrax.com/metal/bloodcult/bc1.htm
[email protected]