vote
6.0
- Band:
MAGIC TERROR - Duration: 00:36:00
- Available from: 12/07/2024
- Label:
-
Invictus Productions
Streaming not yet available
Even the most psychotic and vile metalheads have a heart. That of Horror Illogium, guitarist and main mind behind the nefarious deeds of the mythic Portal, outside the labyrinthine mental and sonic deformations of his main band, ardently beats for the original forms of extreme metal. On this front he has already performed with good competence in Vomitor, a band he joined only in 2012, while the same has been around since the late '90s. Apparently, not satisfied with this experience, he decided to set out on his own for a conceptual effort that went in the direction of a mix of thrash, death and black metal solidly anchored to late eighties/early '90s formulas.
Brutality, simple and concise structures, sharp sounds, assorted screeches, exuberances typically attributable to primitive heavy metal, are the main and summary ingredients of this first album “Damnations Sight”. We are really on the other side of the suffocating and schizoid gloom of Portal, it is impossible to trace connections with them, of any nature they may be. The analogies are instead with all the most vulgar thrash tradition forged in German, American and – why not? – Italian territories, because some dry and poisonous solutions seem to take us back to the first expressions of Necrodeath and Bulldozer.
“Damnations Sight” is a record of pure instinct, very little calculation and a lot of sweaty passion. The plot is easily decipherable in every little nook and cranny of the tracklist, which essentially lives on combative timing, pressing and hyperlinear rhythms, divided between an always lively average speed, some macabre slowdowns and crazy accelerations, which can fully fall within the death metal genre. The guitar work does not stray from the beaten track, not even for some sporadic digressions, based on murky and sharp textures, not at all in search of detailed or relatively sophisticated atmospheres. It seeks darkness and evil, yes, but in a simple and basic form that could recall that of a reassuring B-movie or a genre comic.
Changing the cards on the table – just by a hair’s breadth – is the lead guitar, in search of a catchiness and an enveloping and sinister way recalling the most morbid NWOBHM, Mercyful Fate, the Slayer of the first two albums. With these spices, the songs can thus sound vaguely kissed by a sense of the arcane, of menacing from other times, frank and without great superstructures.
One wonders whether, given premises of such modest ambition, but of extreme practicality, the musical discourse ultimately works. The answer is in a narrow sufficiency. On the one hand, songs like “Serpent Bat” and “Fane Of The Slug Gods” flow pleasantly and without requiring too much effort, titillating our love for primitive and pulsating sounds, faithful to the fundamental canons of vintage metal. On the other hand, “Damnations Sight” is overall a publication not fully developed, as if it were a first draft of something more solid and long-lasting. In addition to putting on the plate characteristic elements of the most vulgar thrash/death/black metal, you don't admire any personal touches, nor do you catch particularly exciting passages. Even if you wanted to search for them at all costs, there are no moments capable of dragging you to a genuine exaltation, to a vibrant involvement.
The general idea is appreciated, while its development seems to lead to a result that is only nice, but far from satisfying. As if, deep down, Mages Terror were still kids struggling with their first demo and, in a festival of the sector, could only aspire to the opening slot, faced at breakneck speed but without yet sparking that spark that can attract new, faithful, fans. Completionists will appreciate it, those who must own and know absolutely everything that comes out in a certain field. The others can safely look elsewhere.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM