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HORNED ALMIGHTY
World Of Tombs

Scarlet (2014)
Rating: 6.5/10

Danish black metallers Horned Almighty is one of those consistent bands which never gets the recognition it deserves. World Of Tombs is, believe it or not, the fifth full-length offering from this belligerent quartet which formed in 2002. It’s been four years since the impressive battering ram that was 2010’s Necro Spirituals, so I was looking forward to this one indeed.

Horned Almighty has a new bass player for this outing with Haxen taking over the duties, while the rest of the line-up features vocalist S., guitarist Hellpig and drummer Harm.

After an brief introduction the record comes to life via the slower, catchier strains of the title track. It’s typical Horned Almighty with the abrasive clattering, bruising drums and groove-based extremity. However, immediately I can hear why Horned Almighty doesn’t get the recognition, because there is something a tad unremarkable about the start of this new album. Yes it’s fierce and heavy, but it’s a fusing of death and black metal that seems relatively common today by design, although one cannot deny the infectious melody that runs through this track.

Horned Almighty have always nodded towards the old school insanity of Celtic Frost and the likes, and I can hear this perverse nature through ‘World Of Tombs’, but it seems as if I’m forever waiting for something dazzling to occur and it never does. Horned Almighty are a no frills, yet accessible extreme metal act that features some truly ferocious vocal grunts and devious bass-lines one wouldn’t normally expect to hear within such a genre.

‘Diabolical Engines Of Torment’ begins in crust-punk fashion, hinting at black ’n’ roll marrying Darkthrone and Motörhead successfully, while ‘Unpure Salvations’ is a slower, grating slab of ashen menace delivered in true black metal style with the kicking drum and those deathly growls of evil.

As the album flows on I’m neither excited or disappointed, but simply there enjoying it for what it is; a heavy, memorable opus that revels in the jarring brutality of ‘Plague Propaganda’ and smirks in mocking fashion with the thrashing joys of ‘…Of Flesh And Darkness’. There is a contemporary coldness in some of the tracks; ‘This Unholy Dwelling’ is a straight up skull crusher incorporating traditional metal into its gallop, and the epic ‘Blessed By Foulness’ contains a riveting, grimy riff that goes toe to toe with the bass.

The album finishes with an admirable cover of Autopsy’s classic ‘Twisted Mass Of Burnt Decay’, which rounds off a record that pulverises but in so much as a friendly fashion. In fact, Horned Almighty trudge on like an author who knows his fanbase and in return knowing that his admirers are content with what he’s doing forever more.

World Of Tombs is a better than average record, but it’s far from being an explosive game changer within a genre where a majority of the bands seem to play well within their comfort zone.

Neil Arnold

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