Band:	Haemoth
Album:	Satanik Terrorism
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	2003
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Invasion
02. Sekth
03. Satanik Terrorism
04. Infested
05. Agios O Baphomet !
06. Supremacy
07. Aeterne Diabolus

Haemoth hail from Paris, France, yet their music does not reflect the beauty of this renowned city, their disharmonic melodies rise from the deepest catacombs that may lie in secrecy underneath the brilliance that is visible to the world. After several demos 2003 arrived and they managed to release their debut album, "Satanik Terrorism", and believe me, this is what the album is all about, it's satanic, evil, unearthly, terrorizing gently the ears of the trained listener who knows what to expect.

"Satanik Terrorism" is one of those great albums that offer raw misanthropic black metal to the world, an album filled with utter darkness and disharmony, inspired and being the way it has to be, unholy. The whole atmosphere is sinister, menacing and the fact that the production is blurry and raw makes the overall aesthetic of Haemoth more asphyxiating, strengthening the manifestation of negative emotions the band wants to present.

It seems that the one great riff comes after the other and the fact that the guitars are to the front of the production most of the times makes that fiery feeling the razorblade riffing evokes be more vivid and keep the interest of the listener to the highest levels! The riffing is mostly hellish and up-tempo, but there are times that it slows down to more mid-tempo levels and then the music of Haemoth has a special hypnotic groove that offers more variety to the sound of the band. No need to ask for the bass lines, we're talking about an underground black metal band so don't expect it to be that vivid, on the contrary though, the drumming does double work on this album and thus the "loss" of the bass guitar won't bother you too much. There are times that the drumming seems a bit buried too, but it's always there, whether it has to sound more mid-tempo and imposing or pace with the hellish guitar riffing, which means upbeat, really fast and well-executed drumming. The vocals lie somewhere between the back and the fore ground and they seem as if they were coming from a lost eerie dimension, making the overall atmosphere blacker than darkness with their unearthly tormented screams. There are times that the vocals have a Burzum-esque approach when they have some slight distortion like on "Infested", having a touch of "Filosofem".

Five compositions of well-conceived and well-executed black metal with an utterly surrounding unearthly atmosphere, an intro and an "interlude" consist of "Satanik Terrorism" and they are enough to fill your soul with the blackest emotions. Proceed to the garden of unholy delights and cherish the forbidden pleasures that call your name tenderly through the sounds of Haemoth?

Highlights: "Agios O Baphomet" for its trance-like, haunting and lethargic aesthetic, the raging and fiery "Aeterne Diabolus" in which the vocalist pours his soul with his ominous and terrifying interpretation and the powerful maelstrom adorned with the melodies of Hell, "Sekth".

Note: "Agios O Baphomet !" is Greek and in English it means "Baphomet the Holy !".