Surrender of Divinity – Manifest Blasphemy
Surrender of Divinity are Thailand’s ambassadors to Black Metal and have been punishing the minority of Christians existing in their country for 13 years. Releasing 2 full lengths and a fist full of splits their brand of raw, harsh and intense Black Metal is something to behold. Not only are they the sole practitioners of the genre in Thailand that I’m aware of, they’re one of the more talented groups in the whole of Asia.
The album’s full title “Manifest Blasphemy: The Abortion of the Immaculate Conception” kicks off with the sounds of a brutal lashing then accelerates into a pandemonium of fast riffage, raw screaming and hellishly intense drumming. It’s not all mashed together carelessly, each instrument has ample space and can be heard. Blend it together though and you receive a violent ear beating that makes you clench your fists and jaw together and want to grab the nearest Christian tape them to the ground and drive over them with a steamroller.
There are some well placed slower riffs and bridge sections throughout the album that break up the intensity excellently but they don’t last long as the screaming and chainsawing guitars resume. Most of the songs are about 6 to 8 minutes long and they tend to build in aggression as they go. Manifest Blashphemy marks an huge leap forward for the band in technicality, intensity and aggression from 2001’s Oriental Hell Rhythmics.
Obviously Surrender of Divinity are more than proficient at their respective areas. The guitaring can sometimes be really complex but then drop into old school foot-tapping riffing at a moments notice. The vocals are suitably demon-like but crossbred with banshee and as for the drumming, well, I reckon the bloke was born with ten arms because it sounds like he is properly smacking the fuck out of his kit. It is that ballistic that he must need to buy a new one every time they do a gig!
The production is pretty decent and enhances the overall grimness of the album and it’s fair to say that hefty expensive recording and studio equipment would rob the album of both integrity and atmosphere. It just manages to contain the music though and I reckon if Surrender of Divinity become any more intense and savage they’ll have to build a re-inforced steel studio or build blast doors over each recording mic otherwise all the equipment nearby will probably explode.
So if you are looking for a traditional Asian cure for that friend or family member who is infected with a religiously induced bacteria or parasite you can forget the bat spittle and tiger sphincter eye drops. Simply administer a liberal amount of Surrender of Divinity to the affected area are I’m sure the victim will be fully cured in no time. If you enjoy harsh black metal then you should look up this band and buy their albums because they play their Black Metal very well indeed.
I only recently discovered Rahu, who purvey original and very replayable Finish Black Metal of the highest calibre. This is a demo from 2008 that has since been released as part of a best of featuring this and their other demo on one CD.
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omfg I cannot believe it!.. this a HUGE surprise, one of the best I’ve listened lately and for sure the best band reviewed here.. awesome is all I can say!
best band reviewed here! absolutely fucking mind blowing black metal!!!
I knew them and I have to agree with misan,they awesome..there’s few talented BM vermins in asia too.Anyway,this is highly recommended.5/5