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TRICLAVIAN
Pierced By The Spear EP

Covenant / Serpent’s Head Reprisal (2023)
Rating: 8/10

Pierced By The Spear is the work of a Vancouver, British Columbia-based trio whose brand of pitch black metal oozes a despicable thorniness and raging, blasphemous streak. I love everything about this nasty four-track affair (including a brief intro), a sinister and mysterious dwelling for clandestine activities and arcane rituals.

One could easily imagine this sort of EP emerging around 1994, taking bites from the second wave of black metal and fusing it with deathlier nuances. The raging storm that is ‘Esonarthex Satanicus’ is a dense, blackened wall of foaming chords; a relentless cascading of primitive yet thick billowing that eventually offers a vocal variation of deep, deathly coughs and raw, snappy roars.

This EP stinks of evil, and revels in its own blackness, striking with vicious intent as great icy walls collide with impenetrable forces. The horrors spewed forth from this release funnel the same choking fog you might have heard during the late 80s underground scene. This is filthy, raw and utterly diabolical, all deeply atmospheric, satanic and the musical equivalent to being buried alive.

The howling fury of ‘Alma Redemptoris Mater’ splinters the flesh with its hostility; forceful gusts of wicked riffs that blurr together like an amorphous mass of malevolence. This is a black-death experience for intrepid explorers who will eventually be reduced to ash by such a formidable flamethrower
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Neil Arnold

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