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LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH
Baphometic Chaosium

Metal Blade (2013)
Rating: 7.5/10

Modern black metal really does get my back up y’know. Am I going to spend every review telling you kids just how great it used to be back in the 80s and early 90s? Well, it looks like it.

Los Angeles-based black metal band Lightning Swords Of Death (terrible band name guys, sorry!) have been around since 2003, and Baphometic Chaosium is the third opus from the five-piece who are fronted by the gravelly voiced demon known as Autarch.

First impressions of this eight-track affair are that the band like to court a bit of controversy – check out the promotional video for the title track – although with those sunglasses, the band look more Frankie Goes To Hollywood rather than Frankie Goes To Hell. Even so, the band brandishes a secret weapon in the tough twin guitar sounds of Roskva and Inverted Chris, and it is this bombastic brace that saves the album from being just another modern day black metal opus.

The main problem with black metal is that over the last two decades (blimey has it been that long?) we’ve had every sort of band within the genre. We’ve had the rough, obscure sounds of the Scandinavian inner circle, to the synth-drenched satanic sonics of the early American scene, as well as vile doses of blackened thrash, and to the present sound of deathly black metal which is the hole I’d slot Lightning Swords Of Death into.

The harsh, yet guttural vocals, and the abrasive yet rich guitar sound does give Baphometic Chaosium an old school feel at times, although the rattling drum attack of Mike Vega, particularly on ‘Psychic Waters’, tends to give the opus a rather mundane, formulaic feel. Thankfully, as already mentioned, the grisly vocal approach and crushing guitars save this record from being just another black metal platter, and the shifts in tempo enable the band to loiter into murky waters of doom, as well as scorching, albeit polished, death metal, although there are only light streaks of this throughout.

The band is also a dab hand at creating stark and creepy atmospheres too, and at times with tracks such as instrumental ‘Cloven Shields’, Lightning Swords Of Death are happy to play out sinister movie-style soundtracks and funereal dirges. ‘Chained To Decay’ is a prime example of how the band refuse to be pigeon-holed. This morbid expression is drenched in foetid doom, and with Autarch’s strained raven rasp I’m reminded at once of the arrogance and evil swagger of classic Mayhem, and yet the next minute Celtic Frost as they weave their macabre magic.

While I find this wretched little record fairly listenable, I am rather dulled by the more polished black metal assault of album closer ‘Oaken Chrysalis’ and left wondering if Lightning Swords Of Death will ever find their true sound? While they are more than happy to shift between moods and not playing up to any trends – all the while permanently wallowing in blood-soaked meadows – I hear nothing hear that suggests brilliance, despite the weighty guitar sound and grim avenues explored.

Fans of anyone ranging from Marduk, Darkthrone, and certainly Mayhem will find much to saviour, particularly in the weird atmospherics of the lengthy ‘Acid Gate’, which conjures up images of goodness know what in those dark woods. The imagery is rather predictable however, and there’s something about the record that is too fresh, although I’m guessing they wanted a rather more obscure, occult feeling.

Even so, the maniacal mocking of Autarch and the deep, cutting grinding guitars all add to the merry madness. Whether I can remain engrossed though we’ll have to wait and see, because back in the early to mid-90s bands like this were saturating the scene and so what Lightning Swords Of Death are doing is nothing new.

Neil Arnold

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