Unhuman Disease "Into Satan's Kingdom" vinyl LP

Limited to 500 copies. First ten come with limited edition poster of the cover art numbered in blood.
The Devil was honored May - September 2007

It’s strange to read that despite this being the latest album of Unhuman Disease it was recorded before two of its predecessors, back in 2007. I don’t know why it took so long to be released, but from what I’ve read it isn’t a fair comparison to the more recently recorded Black creations of Satan. I, on the other hand, have never heard of this constellation before, so to me it doesn’t really matter what came first since I’ve got nothing to compare it to.
With a bit of a judgmental state of mind I find that most American black metal acts don't manage to capture the same kind of aggression and brutality that European bands do. And with Unhuman Disease (is it just me or is that grammatically wrong? Shouldn’t it be ‘inhuman’?) being a one-man act I find it even less likely that it’ll be good. But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Into Satan’s kingdom, ‘cause while still sounding very American in nature it also flirts with Norwegian 90ies black metal, and manage to do so very skillfully.
The album’s recorded over several months, and I imagine he’s recorded it one song at a time, which makes the production and sound quality change with every track. It wouldn’t bother me if it wasn’t for the fact that the volume also changes, and for instance Demonic unholy night has a much higher volume than the previous track. Thankfully I’m not using headphones, ‘cause that could be painful. But oh well, the sound quality remains pretty damn good throughout the entire record, and despite the variations it’s always relatively raw, but still with a good sense of audibility for the instruments.
Balancing somewhere in between old school and melodic Unhuman Disease hits the perfect spot for me when it comes to this type of simple and unrelenting black metal. There’s no messing around, it’s just straight to the point, shoot to kill, black metal. At times I can’t help but to think of Kult ov Azazel for some comparison, just as there’s something about it that reminds me of the older Troll recordings in all of its rugged harshness. I definitely prefer the faster tunes, like that of the previously mentioned Demonic unholy night, simply ‘cause it brings more aggression to the mix. But despite coming off as rather simple and relentless the closer you pay attention you’ll notice the depth of the tunes, and he not only manage to create ferocious and blasting tracks, but also agonized and full of melody, as proven with Howls of sorrow. The riffing throughout is rather melodic, but carry a very rough edge about it. Vocally it’s just classic black metal screams, just as the drums aren’t really all that inventive and nuanced. It’s a bit like going back to the core of what black metal used to be all about – pure blasphemy. The album works very well in recapturing a bit of the genre’s former glory, and it most certainly satisfies my need for good ol’ fashioned black metal.

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