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KILLGASM
A Stab In The Heart Of Christ

Moribund (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

So, it’s time to put your fingers in your ears as Sacramento, California-based lunatics Killgasm come back for another bite. A Stab In The Heart Of Christ, as you can imagine from the subtle title, is a raging, menacing, hate-filled, blasphemous chunk of unholy, rampant metal that comes three years after the trio’s 2011 Bloodbath Of Satanic Vengeance debut.

I think it’s fair to say that these maniacs are a threat to mankind; after all, any band that can combine death metal with grindcore and black metal has got to be taken seriously, especially when over the course of their existence (they formed in 2002) they’ve released such chart-friendly works as Black Metal Whore Killer (2006) and were involved in that summery bubble-gum pop split project entitled Burning Your Churches To Ash / Fucking Your God Up Her Ass (2010). Happy days indeed!

So, this is a ten-track stab in the heart of all with its abrasive guitar sound, which is very much of that scathing black metal variety. Even the vocals flit by like some frost-bitten sneer of ghoulish delight, but there’s so much more to these guys. Just when you think you’ve been impaled on Killgasm’s black metal spikes we’re treated to an array of pig-like squeals from vocalist Emperor Kuntslaughter – I guess it’s him, as he also seems to share vocal duties with bassist Corpse-Bukkake (now that’s a film I wouldn’t like to see in a hurry!).

Emperor is also responsible for the foul drums which exist as rapid-fire blasts of cold air, and yet they hit the ears as if they’ve been fired from a nail-gun. This is intense, extreme metal with drums that somehow take on a militant nature, and the putrid air of arrogance rises above it all like smoke ascending from a recently charred pile of godly corpses. Deep within the thorny thicket of sound there is the occasional sprig of melody and this is where the black metal vision comes into play, but this is often far more despicable than a majority of black metal albums I’ve heard over the years.

It’s not all about the thrashing pace, however. ‘Humanity In Ashes’ offers a few nice shifts in temperature and tempo, but the drums are clearly hell-bent on deafening the entire underworld, such is their din. I could personally live without the squealed vocals; in a sense they seem out of place and become too irritating, but when the guy decides to remain as a guttural demon, he’s a real force.

I expected this opus to be a lot rawer and to be honest, it benefits from not being so. The production is more than adequate as the bass and guitar confront each other throughout like rabid dogs, but as the likes of ‘Planet Earth Mass Grave’, ‘Cold, Dead And Spread’, ‘High On Church Fumes’ and the wretched title track blast by as slabs of blackened grindcore, one can only wonder what planet these demented musicians are on. With an eight-armed drum lord and images of war embedded into the skull, by the time this heaving lump of chaos grinds to a halt, I’m relieved to say the least. If it’s violent metal you’re after however, then Killgasm’s latest bucket of sick is sure to put you in A&E!

Neil Arnold

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