Review by JD on November 17, 2011.

As we head closer to Halloween (only less that a week away) my thoughts and cravings all scream out for some really good Black Metal to ring in the haunting while scaring Christians with. All that need has been satiated quite nicely by a very flawless and pure malevolent release from England based Nine Covens.

This is a band that is dubbed ‘an anonymous supergroup’ - a term that means these people are some sort of stars, but yet wants to stay nameless. These guys play some very brutal Black Metal that is fortified with some Thrash, Death and Doom metal aspects that align the powers of evil to explode out of the speakers and eliminate all the good in the world.

Torture and blackness comes in every form within the cross wrecking lyrics and hades powered music. Satan smiles as 'On The Ascension And The Torment Pt.1 And Pt.2' thunders out its message of pain and torment in the fires of the damned. All backed by massive guitars and monstrous blastbeats that shatter even the most pious heart. Just hearing the stories told here shows that these are not the ‘cookie Monster-ish’ lyrics that some so called Black Metallers try to pass off as good, these dank words are penned by evil filled authors who know how to get their descriptions of pure hell into your very soul.

For a first album, Nine Covens is the new Satan Star on the world Black Metal scene. It is not a ‘perfectly’ made album by commercial standards but it is these imperfections that add to the black spawned majesty, and any small effort at eliminating them would have made the album pretty much worthless. Morose and hollow sounding rawness is something that is hard to balance out, and this band has found a way to do it with great effect.

Buy yourself a Halloween present, get Nine Covens, and scare the living shit out of the little trick or treaters with it. It will do just that...HEHEHE!!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8
Originality: 8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.4 out of 10