What you have in front of you is the ultimate monument of misanthropy, created by the true masters of Dutch Industrial Black Metal...
Cold and hard as concrete, grim like industrial smog, and incorporating members from notorious acts like The Monolith Deathcult, Duivel and Heidenland, D.R.E.P. is anti-human nihilism in its purest form.
More than "merely" being one of the best BM albums to ever emerge from the Netherlands, D.R.E.P.'s decades-awaited debut is ambitious enough to be mentioned in the same sequence as any old pioneers of Scandinavian misanthropic and industrial Black Metal.
Created around the year 1998, the firstborn three tracks were pushed out and shared with but a handful of close people. Initially, these would have been released as a split CD with fellow Dutch BM maniacs Fluisterwoud, but which never came to be... While the project lay dormant from then on, it slowly started gaining a cult-status within the Dutch BM scene.
Now, 25 years later, the furnaces have been reignited, and the project has finally been completed with an afterbirth consisting of three hitherto unfinished tracks!
Highly recommended for fans of Zyklon-B, Mysticum, Niden-Div. 187 and Diabolicum, this is the soundtrack for the inevitable self-inflicted demise of mankind! Three of the tracks were composed in 1998.
D.R.E.P. is an industrial black metal band from the Netherlands. The band has been around since 1998 and has previously released three singles. Drastically Reducing Earth’s Population is the band’s first album and also happens to be the band’s name. D.R.E.P.’S three members have ties to other black and death metal acts such as Duivel, Allfather and The Monolith Deathcult. The long-awaited album is now out on both cassette and vinyl by Nomad Snakepit Productions.
I was intrigued to check out this album when I read the extreme album title and saw the factory cover on the Black metal promotion YouTube channel. I’ve spun this heavy hitting album a few times and here is my review.
Drastically Reducing Earth’s Population is 26 minutes of hateful Dutch black metal. This album flies by extremely fast but is still packed with distorted riffs, ripping vocals, and powerful lyrics. The best part is that the lyrics are sung in the bands’ mother tongue, Dutch. The album contains six songs that ranges between two and six minutes.
The vocal duties are shared among all three members: Kombustar, Havoque, and Deportator. Their abhorrent style makes it stand out from the very first note, evoking a similar grit to that of Gollum in Lord of the Rings. All songs are performed in Dutch, which complements the band’s sound. The Dutch language’s hard consonants are perfect for black metal!
The pace of the songs are fast and violent, propelled mainly by the drums, which have a round and full sound. From what I understand, the drums on the album are programmed. Although they sound good overall, they can occasionally overpower the other instruments.
The overall sound of the album is industrial, with hints of bestial black metal, punk, and speed. Some songs feature slower parts that are fantastic, enhancing the brutality of the faster sections and making the songs more memorable. I recommend that listeners read the lyrics of the songs while listening, as this can deepen their understanding of the album’s message.
Aardelating is the fifth and best track of the album. It opens violently with relentless drums and deafening guitars, and the harsh vocals persist throughout the track. The song also includes some slower sections that are sure to make listeners bang their heads.
I highly recommend this thrilling track as a prime example of the angry tone of the album.
Drastically Reducing Earth’s Population is a fantastic debut that lays a solid foundation for the band’s future material. I highly recommend this album to fans of fast-paced black metal and those who appreciate the Germanic vocal style.
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