Barathrum "Infernal" CD

Both bombastic and barbaric, and with a force of delivery that matches the brutal conviction with which it's performed, this third album of BARATHRUM is in many respects the pinnacle of their achievements, however recently I have heard it yet. I still consider ‘Eerie’ to be my favourite so far, since it's had time to really sink in and become a familiar return-listen. It's a shame that this is scarce to be found at this point, but a future repress seems likely on Barbarian Wrath, in addition to the double-vinyl version still pending from MFH. One thing I must point out about this era of BARATHRUM is that the music has such a supremely powerful vibe that it completely absorbs for the entire duration of the lengthy album. I can think of only a handful of acts that were ever able to achieve so much with seemingly (deceptively so) simple style and song structure. This release really accentuates the fact about black metal... that the real genuine stuff isn't concerned over mindless technical or superfluous melodic masturbations, but is just focused on heavy metal and really plays from the heart of a dark soul, filthy and tough, raw, abrasive, brutal, sarcastic, and Evil! Like this, all real black metal spits and shits in the face of institution, piety, and moral. I tend not to offer analyses of individual tracks on albums I review, but I must make a special mention of the final and "title" track ‘Infernal’. This near-15-minute climax brings the album over the one hour mark, and was the best selection for the final song, because it builds up to such an exciting rage that just keeps pounding out in a repetitive but evolving way. The anthropic shouts and wails and cries all boil into a huge billowing cloud of pain and destruction... this song is dangerous, so beware if you're weak of heart or unprepared!