Deiphago | ‘Fillipino Antichrist’

Every once in a while, a record comes along that manages to fulfil the promise of its title perfectly. Deiphago come blasting out of the Philippines with enough thermonuclear aggression and eye-popping brutality that should any of the country’s several million devout Catholic inhabitants happen to stray within earshot of whatever dank hole they use as a rehearsal space, there’s a strong chance that thoughts might well turn towards Satanic armageddon.

Having been quietly on the go since 1991 and with Hell’s Headbangers covering distribution for this one, the sheer violence the group displays on this album is hard to convey.

The bands that are have managed to provide the most unrelenting examples of Black/Death metal in the past year years would certainly be in fine company here. Revenge and Conqueror are perhaps some of the few examples that could hold a candle to the speed, filth and rage that is brought to the table here. The mix itself is as rough as a badger’s arse, with opener proper ‘Christ Eater’ highlighting how the band seems to have set up with the drums given absolute primacy in the mix department.

Occasionally, people question if the blastbeat has been done to death in this style of metal, but the whithering hail of blows landed on the drumkit over the 29 minutes of this album should put that point to bed for good. Backed up with bizarre outbreaks of mocking guitar solo’s and a constant snarl of roaring guitar, the militaristic power of this group’s drummer is beyond all question.

When the guitar does burst out of the sonic cocoon that the drums have it kept in for the majority of the album, such during the stand-alone riffery of ‘Satan, Semen and Blood’, it’s caked in a lair of matted disortion so loathesome it’s almost hard to discern. The vocals are as vicious as they come, soaring into an almost joyful shriek as the most unhinged parts of the albums crash out of the speakers.Track after track, blast follows roll follows blast, the record just keeps coming with all the single-minded fury of a dying bull.

Stepping back for a moment, it’s worthwhile looking at the sole style change they do offer. Things only happen to slow down during the albums concluding title track, which offers what’s roundly an unnecessary section of picked guitar and semi-coherent vocals, before launching into the assault again. This one section unfortunately reveals the group’s weakness, a lack of real class evident in their inability marry the slower pace with their mainstay of volcanic aggression.

However, the impression is that this bunch laugh in the face of any real form of subtlety, and the job is already done by that stage. They know what they do best, and they do it very, very well. 2009 looks like having a late but great contender in the ‘Most Unholy Bastard of an Album’ category.

3.7 / 5 - Lorcan Archer ::: 08/12/09