Something really odd has been going on and confusing me lately. It suddenly clicked what it was and it is the fact that two albums on my review pile, this and the new Necrophagia both start with a sample from obscure satanic Mexican horror flick Alucarda (1977 Juan L. Moctezuma). It’s a perfect satanic chant to start any album off with but it was still a coincidence, perhaps dark forces were talking to me (must not kill, aghhhh). That aside and I think to be fair Inquisition may have nabbed it in the past too, best talk about the rest of the album.
Black, death god-botherers Fornicus hail from the USA bible belt of Kentucky so no doubt have plenty of reason to get some musical payback. They are a brand new band essentially having only released a two track demo earlier this year prior to this, their debut album. After that intro ‘Pledge,’ fire and brimstone are unleashed in form of ‘We Are Sin.’ It’s got a chunky rolling groove about it which in fact reminds a bit of ‘Orgasmatron’ and moves along cracking heads liberally spurred by thick rasps from vocalist Scott (surprisingly no silly names here). A fiery guitar solo flails off and lower demonic growls are unleashed. Melody is hefty and the band have been quick to incorporate elements of black, death and black thrash to their arsenal. It also has a bit of a chorus that wouldn’t be at all out of place on an Impaled Nazarene song. ‘Pallium Mali’ which is also backed up by a demo version at the end of the album sees a hefty elongated roar opening its gates before firing away with a neck-cracking clamour that’s bound to get spiked gauntlets thrust up in the air when the band play it live. There’s plenty of spirit and spite about things and some dynamic soloing, thick chugging riffs and varied vocal stances keep this rolling along nicely.
There’s definitely a Teutonic thrash feel as ‘King Of The Egotists’ piles in, it has the feel of Destruction at their most errr destructive here and gives a suitably hefty fist fucking, proving particularly fast and brutal as it hits warp factor with a miasma of seething guitars. By comparison the jubilant swagger is replaced by a depressive feel on ‘Into Obscurity’ which has much more black and warlike textures to it. The band seem adapt at bringing different moods and emotions into play as well as varied sound and styles which certainly keeps the album interesting and diverse. I bet they had a huge list of choices for what they were going to include as a cover song and no doubt had a right old battle among themselves before choosing Sepultura classic ‘Antichrist’ which naturally gives a good old thrashing and sounds suitably feral and beastly.
Storming Heaven, both as an album and as far as the title track are concerned pretty much does as described and really make their declaration clear by speed of attack and lyrical armoury, particularly potent when the number slows down oozing out the words “we are destruction” and then exploding back into a fiery eviscerating shred. If you like listening to stuff like this and indeed writing about it on a Sunday morning rather than being penned in on the other side of the fence in church listening to the other far less exciting hymns, this should do the job nicely. A solid debut.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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