March 13, 2010

Reviewer: Kesh

If a Black Metal outfit states they are from Italy, the country that surrounds the Vatican City, one thing I don’t expect is a trendy, almost radio friendly sound. That’s right you read that correctly, I said “trendy” in conjunction with black metal. No matter who you are, you can’t contest that anyone who bills himself as a musician in the genre needs to at least attempt to sound evil; and unfortunately for avant-garde project Hiems, the album Worship or Die falls flat on it’s face as far as tripping the evometer goes.

Now, other than what I just mentioned, this album is actually pretty good and easy to listen to and enjoy. But I’m not one hundred percent on if I would classify it as black metal sound-wise. While lyrically, the songs fall under the prerequisites for the classification, the music sounds more like something I would expect from a melodic death outfit rather than what Algol (the one member of the project) is trying to go for.

A few highlights on the album include “Scum Destroyer,” “290279,” and “Race with the Devil.” All three of them are incredibly good, standout tracks, but almost to the point that they feel like they should be on entirely different album from the rest of the songs. Yet somehow, they do still manage to grasp on to threads and stick with the rest of the album like a true survivor.

“Scum Destroyer is incredibly catchy, yet pulls back before it becomes annoyingly so on this aspect, while “290279” is an incredibly interesting instrumental track that somewhat feels out of place on the album, but still does add to it with its near quirkiness. The electric organ style music is somewhat reminiscent of something Church of Satan founder, the late Anton LaVey, would have done when he was alive, and maybe it is for this reason that this is my favorite track on the disk.

“Race With the Devil” somewhat comes off as the odd man out on the album with its NWOBHM style guitars and cleanly sung vocals. While it’s an excellent track and is very well done, it doesn’t feel like it is part of the album whatsoever. Algol’s voice is absolutely marvelous to listen to and the song is actually fun, but it doesn’t fit with all the others. Like a puzzle piece from a different puzzle. It might fit in the empty slot perfectly, but it doesn’t complete the picture right.

Between arrangements and the excellence of the musicianship, Worship or Die would make an incredibly good addition to someone’s music collection, being a good choice for those ho-hum days where you don’t feel like listening to heart-pounding brutality, yet still want something just enough to get you into the mood into listening to some truly evil stuff from Norway or Sweden. The nihilism runs rampant throughout the album, and feeds a metalhead’s basic need to rage against the mainstream, but no so much that it will offend Mom if you live in her basement.

Release Date: July 24th, 2009
Label: Moribund Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Worship or Die
2.  I
3.  Scum Destroyer
4.  W.O.F.
5.  Adventum
6.  Bringer of Light
7.  Wounds Just Death Can Heal
8.  Hiems
9.  2909979
10.  Race With the Devil

Total playing time: 54:22

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Hiems - Worship or Die