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STIGMHATE
Zodacare Od Zodameranu

Bakerteam (2014)
Rating: 8/10

Whoa! The scary album introduction evokes images of a clan of tatty witches sat round a boiling cauldron in some dank cave, and I’m already under the spell of Stigmhate’s latest black metal séance.

This poisonous quartet has been loitering around Italy’s darkest corners since 1998, and Zodacare Od Zodameranu is their fourth chapter of black magic verse. Those responsible for this grim utterance are vocalist / guitarist Marco, guitarist Mike, drummer Matia “Ahrin” and bassist Xerberus, who is the only chap with a name that sounds more suited to this style of unholy noise.

As I said, the album kicks off with that murky, scratchy introduction which calls itself ‘Aetherion’ before we are drenched in the black blood of the rushing ‘The Third Obsidian’, which is fast, spiky black metal from beginning to end. Hidden within its black chambers is a whiff of oily melody, but above all it’s an impure rattle that is extremely effective as gnarly, nasty black metal goes. Full of hate, it rambles incoherently before the mincing interlude and slower passages of brooding, all adding to the effect of this primeval black metal experience.

Nothing beats a slice of vicious, seething straightforward black metal, and thank goodness it’s one that goes for the throat and exudes menace and vile attitude. Vocally, it’s nasty stuff as Marco strips paint with that sadistic sneer, which is accompanied at times by a deathlier growl of demonic stature. The riffs are cold but often dense and scratchy as they hurl themselves through the catacombs of morbidity and play havoc with those ominous drums and that ravenous bass, which picks the flesh from the bones like a hungry scavenger.

‘Ave Averno In Genesi Nema’ is another cesspit of extremity; the vocals are a tad more decipherable, but it’s all delivered with so much malice that even the melodic guitar strains become strangled amidst the encroaching thorns and tearing tentacles of horror.

This album just races and rages with such satanic aplomb that one cannot help but worship such a formidable beast and take each and every punch and jab with joy. The commanding ‘Mistress Of Bone’s Mounds’ has an oozing quality, mixing a scary vocal assault with slower segments of mystery and demonic insanity before once again the black winds of torment rush through the valleys at speed. It’s all so convincing that I want to bestow deathlier names to Marco, Mike and Matia, such is their hostility towards the gleams of light that threaten them from heaven.

‘Pleroma Apocrifa Mistica’ is absolutely crushing as it crawls from its dungeon; combing death metal potency with that typical black metal nastiness, it’s a track of epic proportions, but then again there are 12 monsters of darkness to contend with on this leather-clad platter.

The bitterness of ‘Adamas Ater’ makes the track a hard one to swallow, while ‘Radiant Darkness’ is a gargantuan slab of deathly black metal boasting a killer drum clank and those guttural coughs. ‘Feralis Exercitus’ is just a straight up slice of aggressive, black metal melody wrapped up in chilly, dissonant guitars and an avalanche of drums, and all light is finally snuffed out via the icy gusts of ‘Abraxas’.

And then we are done… on our knees, scraping through the darkness and kneeling at this stained altar we call Stigmhate. We are at one with the vicious and proud to be such disciples.

Neil Arnold

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