Review by Felix on February 5, 2020.

It seems to be a widespread opinion among the protagonists of extreme metal that the level of musical harshness simultaneously defines the degree of diabolic bestiality. I beg to differ. Bands like the gigantic Necrophobic have proven evidence that it is possible to create pure devilish sounds without playing the insane music-violator who performs songs with totally vulgar titles. Especially a great number of "war black metal" hordes will probably never understand that rabid chaos and misshapen noise are no signs of Satan, but of their half-baked musical skills. Nevertheless, it is not easy to give the audience the feeling of being confronted with the unadulterated bestial core of extreme metal. "Cursed To The Pyre" belongs to the few outputs that allow us an insight into the pitch-black soul of our music. 2020 starts amazingly (and Necrophobic have also announced a new album…).

Of course, the prototypical promo sheet babbles about a more mature style, a big step forward and yada, yada, yada but what can be taken seriously? Indeed, the tracks impress with mature and excellent structures. On the one hand, they celebrate sinister catchiness. Already the opener 'From The Tomb Into The Void' scores with a very memorable chorus. On the other hand, the song patterns avoid the traditional conventions successfully. This homogeneous album does not lack variety, even though the creative wiggle-room of this archaic form of metal is pretty limited. But I see definitely no evolution – and I am absolutely happy about this fact. My simple thought is: why change the best? Already the last two EPs mirrored the outstanding (and ripe) song-writing competence of these harbingers of the Apocalypse. I love to experience this kind of stagnation. Is there anything better than ingenious musicians confirming their abilities, their mentality and their status? Okay, maybe sex with Debbie Harry when she was 35 years old, but I fear no one of us has this opportunity to compare.

The eight songs exceed the 42 minutes mark, but don't worry. They don't lack compactness and come to the point in a matter of seconds. This goes for straight torpedoes like 'The Hammer of Ghouls' as well as for multi-layered pieces such as 'Hideous Affliction'. Slaughter Messiah can be compared with the aforementioned Necrophobic, but they do not just combine black and death metal. A thrashing element haunts through their music as well and regardless of the exact stylistic mix, they unleash five percent more fury than the Swedish role models. Perhaps one can say that Slaughter Messiah connect the black aesthetics of Ketzer's "Satan's Boundaries Unchained" with the monstrous vehemence of Desaster's "Angelwhore". Needless to say, that their sound also reminds me very pleasantly of the brilliant Enthroned debut. Anyway, let's stop the namedropping, because the king of venomous nagging (Lord Sabathan, who else?) and his henchmen stand on their own feet. They do not use blast beats (if we neglect some extremely fast parts in 'Pouring Chaos'), but more or less every other tried and tested ingredient of blackened, thrashing death metal. Profound, effective riffs meet murderously howling solo guitars, well embedded high-pitched screams express pain and (a surprisingly big number of) melodies that Satan himself could not have done better are accompanied by precise drumming and supported by a few atmospheric, almost spiritual sounds every now and then. By the way, all these building blocks benefit from a mighty and infernal production. This pretty transparent yet homicidal mix is simply perfect for this kind of music.

Minor misdemeanours? Well, the first tones of the album, which starts without any superfluous intro, lie in close proximity to the beginning of "Swamp of Torment", but this just increases the brand recognition. Secondly, any form of innovation does not show up, but who gives a f**k about innovation? Thirdly, if we want to be picky, we can mention the exchangeable artwork. Further flaws? None. Instead, the band ploughs violently through the encrusted ground of misanthropic metal with fierce resolution. Slaughter Messiah present their ironclad full-length with utter grimness, bitter contempt and musical excellence. My only serious criticism is that it took four very long years until this feast of authentic hatred was finished. But the devastating result speaks for itself: the material reaches the ultimate level of diabolic bestiality and almost musical perfection. I am really surprised, because my expectations were very high after gems like 'Crypts of the Undead' – and so I feared that they would have no chance to satisfy my hopes. But Lord Sabathan, Lucifer or whoever managed it cleverly: this album does not disappoint me in any way. Quite the opposite. And now excuse me. I have to make sure that I am not too late for a copy of the gold vinyl of "Cursed To The Pyre". I have to meet the diabolic core of reckless metal again and again.

Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Review by Felix on August 14, 2019.

I have read that the population of the African continent is growing by 30 million people each year. In 2050 there will be two billion people in Africa. But wait a moment, four dudes from Bavaria are against it and have a master plan. They simply want to depopulate the Earth. Great idea. To depopulate only Africa would have been an act of racism and everybody with a clear mind would try to stop the crazy Bavarians. But killing the whole mankind is just fair, right?

Either way, don't become confused or even depressed by too much global statistics, try to find comfort with a good black metal album. Too bad that Depopulating Planet Earth cannot help you in this context. Perhaps I am still an absolute beginner when it comes to black metal. However, I cannot express it differently: this album mainly delivers constant noise. I miss almost everything, for instance clear contours, ice-cold melodies, dynamic guitars, thundering drums, charismatic vocals, intelligent tempo changes or breaks and horrifying scenarios. Everything is at best average, but many components do not even reach this level.

The most annoying details are the absence of comprehensible song structures and the absolutely shabby production. You say these two defects go hand in hand? Probably you are right. The drum sound is terrible, and the guitars do not even deliver a minimum of sharpness in view of the muddy mix. But the compositions themselves also reveal immaturity. The songs want to deliver "trve" blackness, but they just rumble down their way without taking the listener with them on their journey. If I forget the dominating hatred for just one moment, the full-length completely lacks emotions. Maybe the opener and the fifth track have a few good moments, but that's definitely not enough to shape a recommendable record. And especially the title track on the fifth position ends in a very strange way. The final solo sounds as if they played their instruments under water. All in all, there are not many sequences where the quartet is creating something good and so their biggest advantage might be that they are not prone to external influences. This wants to be black metal and nothing else.

Be that as it may, one has to endure seven pretty long tracks before the album clocks in at 43 minutes and the prevailing impression is that I have listened to a kind of black metal mishmash. This is a typical debut from the category "We want, but we can't". I know that their third and their fourth album sound much better and I don't want to blame the group for being incapable, but back in 2008, it was not yet time for them to release an album. Thus, I don't speak about a band that lacks integrity, but a band that still had a lot to learn. So now with their better albums in their luggage, Total Hate can re-start their program of depopulation. Hard job. Guess they don't want to know how many - hopefully healthy - African children have seen the light of day while I wrote this review. It took me half an hour, so I think we can welcome roughly 1.700 new African babies. Impressive.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10