Review by Carl on March 31, 2023.

These last few years I have not been following the extreme underground scene in my country like I have in the past. A big reason for this is that there are too much bands active that only seem to be concerned with ticking the right musical boxes, as well as the fact that everything seems to be fenced off in their own microcosm nowadays. Add to this an audience that seems to consist out of either 70's/80's cosplayers or kids sporting the 'middle aged pervert' look (you know 'em, the moustache/beanie/Dahmer glasses crowd), it has started to annoy me big time. It's probably the middle age speaking here, but I can't do much with that. And so, while too busy being a cranky old wanker, I only recently took notice of this Belgian band called Human Barbecue and their already third offering Red Sun Rising, which tore me a well-deserved brand new arse.

In short: this is fucking massive. Slamming brutal death metal in the vein of like-minded bands such as Kraanium, Abominable Pudridity, Disnormality and especially Korpse from Holland. This is some highly volatile stuff, with stupid amounts of aggression oozing all over the place. The music is as heavy as a carnival fat lady in the slamming parts and as savage as your meth addict cousin on monday morning in the fast blast beat driven sections. The combining factor between these parts are the ferocious gutturals of Jason Lambert, a man sounding as vicious as a feral beast while delivering an effort bulging with menace and aggression. The music is varied within the tried and tested frame of brutal slamming death metal, combining slow dirging slams with relentless blasting frenzy, brewing a mixture of massive sounding and utterly violent death metal. The overall instrumentation (all courtesy of Roy Feyen of Human Vivisection fame) is effective and precise, and feels like an iron rod is being shoved through your ears. This is some punishing stuff right here.

The production sounds a good deal above par, as well. It's a digital effort, yes, but it avoids the trap of sounding fabricated and fake. The music is allowed to 'breathe', and this works wonders in its totality. It all sounds massive and clear, while exuding copious amounts of seething barbarity throughout. Allow me to add that this is probably one of the most convincing slamming death albums I have ever heard, both sound- and music-wise. To me, this one's easily on the same level as Korpse's "Unethical", and that's saying something!

But because us old folk find something in anything to nag about, I'm going to add that there are a sparse few Meshuggah-like (Meshuggish?) parts here and there that I personally am not that hot about. It reminds me too much of the sparse deathcore bands I have heard in my life, and that's not my cup of tea, honestly. These parts are not that numerous though, and neither do they last long, so it's not that of a problem, especially keeping in mind how god forsaken awesome the rest of the album is.

This is a great release in the slamming death metal genre that I will recommend to all into the genre, and I'm proud to say that it comes from my home country. If I should ever happen to walk in to one of these guys, I'll gladly buy them a beer or a warm cup of milk or whatever. It's just this good!

By the way: how long does it take for such a new arse to stop hurting?

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Tomek on September 2, 2008.

Sometimes I wonder how it works. Does the music find us or do we find music? Well, it probably doesn’t matter. Whichever way it happened, Hell United's Hornokracy has been spinning in my player for quite a while now, giving my ears serious beating every time it's on.

Hornokracy consists of two parts. First part called "ordinarium missae", which is the new 2008 material, and second part - "proprium missae" - is their 2007 material from Extra Strength of the Obscure. Sound wise, both materials are very well played and recorded so there is almost no difference between two of them. If this is your first encounter with Hell United I must warn you! Hornokracy is relentless, massive, unforgiving and furious. Both parts of Hornokracy serve us extremely fast mixture of Black and Death Metal with occasional slower tempo passages that are so crushingly heavy that they could probably grind sand and stone no problem. First, it hits with insanely fast double bass/blast beat drums that made me wonder if drummer is actually human. Then sharp and somewhat out of place guitar that tore me to pieces. Fat bass guitar sound came out rumbling when I least expected it kicking me in the face. Vocals are simply maniacal screams of tormented schizophrenic. Cursing at heavens, invoking spirits, spitting hate. Somewhere in-between diabolic intros add tons of blasphemous feel to the overall hellish atmosphere of the album. Completing the whole package is awesomely done booklet with cover art and layout designed by Ataman Tolovy. His very inspired and original work makes visual side of the project devilishly pleasant. All that combined makes Hell United vicious and unstoppable. It makes Hornokracy a brutal massacre of the senses. No mercy, no prisoners, no bull from the very beginning to the very end. Everything is in its place and all in superb quality.

I can’t really find anything to complain about or find anything that I don’t like about this album. I’ve listened to it many times and I can tell you right know Hornokracy is one of my favorite albums this year. It doesn’t matter if I found it or it found me. Enough said.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Tomek on September 2, 2008.

Sometimes I wonder how it works. Does the music find us or do we find music? Well, it probably doesn’t matter. Whichever way it happened, Hell United's Hornokracy has been spinning in my player for quite a while now, giving my ears serious beating every time it's on.

Hornokracy consists of two parts. First part called "ordinarium missae", which is the new 2008 material, and second part - "proprium missae" - is their 2007 material from Extra Strength of the Obscure. Sound wise, both materials are very well played and recorded so there is almost no difference between two of them. If this is your first encounter with Hell United I must warn you! Hornokracy is relentless, massive, unforgiving and furious. Both parts of Hornokracy serve us extremely fast mixture of Black and Death Metal with occasional slower tempo passages that are so crushingly heavy that they could probably grind sand and stone no problem. First, it hits with insanely fast double bass/blast beat drums that made me wonder if drummer is actually human. Then sharp and somewhat out of place guitar that tore me to pieces. Fat bass guitar sound came out rumbling when I least expected it kicking me in the face. Vocals are simply maniacal screams of tormented schizophrenic. Cursing at heavens, invoking spirits, spitting hate. Somewhere in-between diabolic intros add tons of blasphemous feel to the overall hellish atmosphere of the album. Completing the whole package is awesomely done booklet with cover art and layout designed by Ataman Tolovy. His very inspired and original work makes visual side of the project devilishly pleasant. All that combined makes Hell United vicious and unstoppable. It makes Hornokracy a brutal massacre of the senses. No mercy, no prisoners, no bull from the very beginning to the very end. Everything is in its place and all in superb quality.

I can’t really find anything to complain about or find anything that I don’t like about this album. I’ve listened to it many times and I can tell you right know Hornokracy is one of my favorite albums this year. It doesn’t matter if I found it or it found me. Enough said.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Tomek on September 2, 2008.

Sometimes I wonder how it works. Does the music find us or do we find music? Well, it probably doesn’t matter. Whichever way it happened, Hell United's Hornokracy has been spinning in my player for quite a while now, giving my ears serious beating every time it's on.

Hornokracy consists of two parts. First part called "ordinarium missae", which is the new 2008 material, and second part - "proprium missae" - is their 2007 material from Extra Strength of the Obscure. Sound wise, both materials are very well played and recorded so there is almost no difference between two of them. If this is your first encounter with Hell United I must warn you! Hornokracy is relentless, massive, unforgiving and furious. Both parts of Hornokracy serve us extremely fast mixture of Black and Death Metal with occasional slower tempo passages that are so crushingly heavy that they could probably grind sand and stone no problem. First, it hits with insanely fast double bass/blast beat drums that made me wonder if drummer is actually human. Then sharp and somewhat out of place guitar that tore me to pieces. Fat bass guitar sound came out rumbling when I least expected it kicking me in the face. Vocals are simply maniacal screams of tormented schizophrenic. Cursing at heavens, invoking spirits, spitting hate. Somewhere in-between diabolic intros add tons of blasphemous feel to the overall hellish atmosphere of the album. Completing the whole package is awesomely done booklet with cover art and layout designed by Ataman Tolovy. His very inspired and original work makes visual side of the project devilishly pleasant. All that combined makes Hell United vicious and unstoppable. It makes Hornokracy a brutal massacre of the senses. No mercy, no prisoners, no bull from the very beginning to the very end. Everything is in its place and all in superb quality.

I can’t really find anything to complain about or find anything that I don’t like about this album. I’ve listened to it many times and I can tell you right know Hornokracy is one of my favorite albums this year. It doesn’t matter if I found it or it found me. Enough said.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 8 out of 10