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FRONT BEAST
Demon Ways Of Sorcery

Hells Headbangers (2013)
Rating: 7/10

The hellish one-man band that is Germany’s Front Beast have crawled from the depths of despair to treat / torture (delete where applicable!) us with another ghastly instalment of satanic underground horror.

Extreme metal journeyman Avenger – responsible for those vile, tortured screams, rusty bass licks, clanking guitars, and bath-tub drums – has been wondering through the chasms of malice since the 90s, but he’s somewhat of a cult hero, having only released one full-length album under the Front Beast moniker (2006’s Black Spells Of The Damned) and goodness knows how may demos and split EPs.

Demon Ways Of Sorcery is, as expected, another decrepit journey into the nocturnal wastes of Avenger’s stark mind as we’re force-fed such unholy delights as the lengthy ‘Heathen Night’ and the unsavoury ‘Filling Skulls With Angels Blood’. Oddly, much of the music is quite mid-tempo and catchy, although this seems a rather common trend among a majority of old school styled bands who seem to be high on those creaky black ’n’ roll riffs, circa old Venom, by way of getting their repugnant message across. Much of what Front Beast offers is of lo-fi quality (I’m hoping it was recorded in a dank castle in a forest somewhere, but doubt it very much!) and boasting Avenger’s miserable screams, cries and wails.

Opener ‘Bearer Of Satan’s Flame’ is one of the faster tracks on the record, although it soon nestles down to a formulaic rock plod with fuzzy bass, the Dark One wailing like a banshee brooding over another lost victim. The aforementioned ‘Heathen Night’ is a steady mover adorned in black; again, it’s the sort of track that offers a rather simple 70s-styled rock slog, but at times it can be quite catchy, in spite of the harsh moans.

‘Broken Seal Of White Light’ will no doubt appeal to anyone who likes their classic New Wave Of British Heavy Metal gallop, and that’s why Demon Ways Of Sorcery works. It’s such an accessible dungeon, although its aim is to come across as a primitive landscape of satanic misery. And yet, when you hear the opening trudging strains of the title track, you’re immediately transported to not only the back end of the early to mid-90s black metal scene, but also obscure 70s rock.

Front Beast has most certainly trawled the manky vault in search of those wayward riffs of the wyrd. Once put together, this proves to be quite a fitting unity of the damned that only occasionally hints at black thrash with the likes of ‘Hidden Black Wisdom’ and the chaotic closer ‘Inverted Bloody Cross’.

Avenger may not be pleased to know that I find his attempts at evil rather charming and readily available, but for a skinny dip in the black depths of old school ravishing grimness, this album is quite the catch. I’m unsure if the guy is completely serious about his beliefs but when you consider just how many bands are attempting this primeval cacophony, Front Beast have actually carved out an embryonic sound that shines like a dim beacon in the murk of mimicry.

Neil Arnold

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