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BLOOD PYTHON
Acheron

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 8.5/10

Like some long lost 80s metal gem, the debut full-length from Norway’s Blood Python debut creaks like the hinge of a rusted portcullis and then, once oiled by dragon fire and warrior blood, marches headlong into the forest to do battle with all manner of demons and phantoms.

From its stark yet effective cover to the clank of its axe work, this debut release is perfect throwback metal to a time when you’d order a record like this through an advert in a magazine like Metal Forces and it would turn up a year later. And if you picked this sort of platter up in the import racks in Shades Records store in London you’d spent well because this doom-laden heap of junk blandly strides in effective fashion, nodding towards a late 70s vibe while cavorting through the fjords occupied by now defunct Scandinavian acts.

The vocals are bombastic yet raw, the music is stripped down and barren, while the drums and bass just plod in a glorious no frills fashion that I can see Darkthrone’s Fenriz in the distance throwing up the devil horns and glaring in ravenous fashion at the full moon.

Tracks such as ‘Holy War’ have that antiquarian doom-metal feel; creepy, sinister and as stark as that tree outside your house that has seemingly forever braved countless grips of winter. It could be argued that the stuffy mix drags the sound down into the murky mire but I’m of the opinion that Blood Python is going for that exact sound, and as the primitive ‘Witch Queen’ embarks on its simple yet effective trudge one can only nod along in appreciation of its Gothic, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal worship.

I’m happy in knowing nothing about this band and basically I don’t want to; for me this album is steeped in mystery and wrapped in chain mail. The title track lumbers in tight fashion, almost restricted by its constricting axe work, and the same could be said for ‘Sweating Blood’ and ‘Warlords’, both damp, sodden and rust-covered plodders which may benefit from an airier production but who wants such rays of light in these basement confines?

As a teenager I wanted metal to frighten me and wrap me in its leathery coils and Blood Python does exactly that. This is obscure-sounding retro metal that stinks of gloom. A vinyl and cassette release cannot come soon enough.

Neil Arnold

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