Norwegian Hellish Outcast surprised me in 2012 with a good debut album ('Your
God Will Bleed") although the music was not quite original (some Slayer
influences). With the same members they have recorded this second album and I have to
say that there are still some recognizable Slayer resemblances, but after "Partition
of Lust" they sound a lot more original.
The voice of Thebon is still aggressive in Araya style, but with more variation.
In the more atmospheric songs he uses a normal (not clean) singing style. The
songs are a mix of thrash, death, black, hardcore and doom, you might even call it
a bit progressive. The mix of very fast stuff with slower atmospheric groovy
pieces make this a very variable and interesting album. In the song "Heresiarch"
the riff reminds me of a Morgoth (Odium) song. I also get the idea that the
first 5 songs or a bit more straight forward and that after that the songs get
more progressive and atmospheric. One of the heaviest tracks is "Gods of
Fear", which is a real black/death/thrash combined song sounding a bit like
Cannibal Corpse. The contrast with the next morbid song "Leave" couldn't
be bigger, one of the slowest tracks with
Silje Wergeland (The Gathering) singing some parts. You almost think that it is
a different band playing that song.
After that "Machines" is a heavier track, but with a lot of slower atmospheric
pieces. The title track carries on in the same tempo and the hypnotizing chuggy
riffs and dark atmosphere sometimes gives you the creeps. In "Morbid Attraction"
the refrain sounds very hardcore influenced, after that the atmospheric
dark song "Torment" continues on the same high level. After all this brutal
stuff, the instrumental accoustic "The Wait" brings you the deserved resting
point before you puss the repeat all button once again to experience the dark
and heavy ride. And I can assure you that the album gets better spin after spin.
