Band:	Horncrowned
Album:	Defanatus (Diabolus Adventus)
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	December 01, 2014
A review by:	Windrider

01. Intro (Opus Satanam)
02. Extinction's Apotheosis (Finis Orbis Christiani)
03. Christ's Devotees Genocide (Sescenti Sedecim)
04. Horned Redeemer (Vicarius Filii Diaboli)
05. Harassment (Inferos Viam)
06. Har Meggido Νikh (Expuens in Sanguine Agni)
07. Worship Of The Seven-Headed Beast (Caper Nigra Cultum)
08. Defanatus (Diabolus Adventus)
09. Charred Shrines (Baptismus Ignis)
10. Malign & Perverse (Antichristus Rex)
11. Quenchless Ignition (Missa Concrematio)
12. Outro (Aevum In Hircum)

One can explore quite a lot when discovering the non-european black metal scenes. Historically, the most important and still the biggest scene overseas can be found in South America. Bands like Sarcófago filled in the small gap between the first and second wave in Scandinavia. However, today's discussion topic hails from Bogotá, Colombia and has the pleasant name Horncrowned. They have been around since 2001 and released four full-length albums so far, the fourth one being rated today here live and uncut, entitled Defanatus (Diabolus Adventus).

As stated on their official Facebook site, the band plays "Hyper Fast Church Burning Black Metal". However, it appears that the church in my small village withstood the last days of Colombian black metal attack as if it were nothing special during its more than 500 years of existence. Anyway, this is the spirit that metalheads in South America seem to be inspired by. Defanatus (Diabolus Adventus) consists of twelve "Church Burning" songs playing over a time of 46 "Hyper Fast" minutes. Frankly, nothing special awaits the listener during that time. But behold, that doesn't mean the sound is bad and boring, rather it is exactly the aggressive playing style we are used to from this region. It is therefore quite like what anyone knowing the genre would expect the album to be.

The whole record is solid, there is nothing bad in particular and that's why it is recommended to anyone that likes this kind of music. There are two songs that are actually pretty great and worth mentioning; the first one is the title track with cool melodies and a nice atmosphere, the second is called "Christ's Devotees Genocide (Sescenti Sedecim)" and brings huge aggressiveness to the listener, great for anyone on a rant trip. Please don't ask why there are always Latin names in brackets on this record and what they mean, I don't know and I can't recall even ten words from my five years Latin in school.

I do believe that Horncrowned could do a little better, as the band plays their instruments well and the vocals are very good and shrieky. Defanatus (Diabolus Adventus) is a nice album and leaves one satisfied, but we might expect the band to step up in the future, the potential is definitely there.