Band:	Corpus Christii
Album:	Rising
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	September 19, 2007
A review by:	Lucas

01. Intro
02. Stabbed
03. Blank Code
04. Black Gleam Eye
05. The Wanderer
06. Torrents Of Sorrow
07. Void Revelation
08. Evasive Contempt
09. Heavenless Bliss
10. Untouchable Euphoria
11. Bleak Existence
12. Revealed Wounds
13. Outro

From the very first seconds of "Rising", Corpus Christii's latest opus, you are under the impression of being in a church during a holy ceremony. Blissful vocals waft in your face, reeking of heaven and divine light, in the everlasting presence of The Almighty. After some tantalizing moments of insecurity about being in such an unfamiliar place, a ravaging horde of pillaging monsters breaks through the church doors and immediately slay the priest in a bloody ritual, drenching the altar in the flux of life. Aaahh, salvation.

What just whirled through the door is the nightmare of any organized religion. Nothing more than a bunch of reckless barbarians, savages, who hold no respect for opinions that differ from their own. Bastard sons, that would rather dwell in the presence of the Wicked One, then choose the path of light and love. And why should they anyway? They are in league with Satan, after all.

Their attitude, their nicknames (Nocturnus Horrendus - vocals and guitars), their lyrics… even a deaf man could assign them to the right genre. No frills, no keyboards, no female vocals, no over-the-top symphonic layers. Simply balls to the walls Black Metal. For those who need more than that: "Rising" is rooted in the good old Second Wave heroes, dark and sinister à la Darkthrone, but with a touch of the modern, (better-produced) destroying force so gloriously manifested in, say, Ondskapt. Quite a vociferous combination, one might say.

Nocturnus Horrendus' vocals shift between a hateful groan, and a pained outcry. His voice is a tad lower than most Black Metal vocalists, which results in a slightly more brutal effect. The guitars of the same man are of dissonant character, very straight-to-the-point yet very chaotic. Especially here the resemblences with for example Ondskapt are obvious, though the guitars from their Swedish collegues are still the superlative of everything dissonant, hypnotic and chaotic. CC's drummer must get himself checked as soon as possible: if this man is not infected with a severe case of rabiës, then I vow to listen to Manowar the rest of my life. His effortless fast-paced and destructive force is so vicious, I dare to make such a vow.

Corpus Christii already released five earlier albums, which gave them some status in the underground scene. However, none of those albums comes close to the bawling force of "Rising". A great leap forward. Still nothing unique or avant-garde, but which bastard made that the most prominent criteria of music anyway? He should be violently hung, drawn and quartered, for there is much more to music than simply a bunch of geeks trying to be unique. "Rising" has already been out for quite some time now, so don't waste anymore of it and get this baby now. A killer release, and most definitely not for the weak and faint-hearted.