Review by Marcelo Vieira on August 4, 2024.

Deströyer 666 - one of the world of black metal’s most versatile and most volatile outfits. True rebels, a dying breed! And to what end do these miscreants feed their and your animal instincts? The total and complete rupturing of political correctness and an homage to the days when blackened metal was something to be feared. Deströyer 666 vision leader, Keith “KK” Warslut is a man who lives on the fray or I guess you could say in the past. His views on social/political issues are like something straight out of Lemmy’s playbook where honesty, strength, and unwavering swagger stand paramount. This no-bullshit way of viewing our shit world along with the music, which is about as fiercely adversarial as it gets is where this band’s allure comes into play. What kind of strong-willed person who believes in things like sovereignty, freedom of expression and true liberation wouldn’t be appalled by what the modern metal scene as a whole has become? Deströyer 666 is the voice of opposition, of war, and of pride. Master’s morality is put on display as opposed to the slave morality that so plagues the scene today. True representations of the black metal way are Deströyer 666 and as the PC bitches throw everything they’ve got at KK and crew, it simply rolls off of their battle-hardened shoulders. 

In 1997, Deströyer 666 released their sophomore effort, “Unchain the Wolves”. The cover art represents “the spirit of the white man”. Ah, how refreshing for a Caucasian to openly express such pride in his heritage without reservation or fear of being labeled a racist. For you see, there is no wrong for an individual, no matter of what race, taking pride in his heritage whether white, black, or whatever. Heathen pride! And in no way a disparaging of any other race. And the music? Raw, nasty, and brutal. Probably about as close to what’s considered to be true black metal as any of their other records. Deströyer 666 have ventured further and further away from this approach over the span of their career as they’ve infused more and more elements of thrash and heavy metals into their style. “Unchain the Wolves” quite simply captures the essence of the band’s youthful aggression as it stood before the eventual infusion of these other influences and the band’s more professional status as it stands today. 

With purely violent tracks like “Satan’s Hammer” and “Six Curses From a Spiritual Wasteland”, Deströyer 666 admonishes the folk, the melodicism, and the storytelling of Scandinavian black metal and quite simply crush them under their boots. Black metal for the enthusiast who embraces the notion that BM should always be as radical and provocative as possible. Black metal with balls. That’s not to say that D666 doesn’t dabble a bit in these as evidenced by “Tyranny” with its slower, more savory, and more melodic passages but short-lived they are! “Damnation’s Pride” to once again tear at the jugular and scourge the realm of true black metal before the album closes with “Onward to Arktoga”. A typical closing track for Deströyer 666: epic, meaningful, and thought-provoking. 

True champions of the adversarial path! Outlaws and free-spirits whose loyalty to their music and to the beast within stand unwavering in the face of opposition from today’s keyboard warriors, social justice bitches, sniveling special interest groups, and sleazy publications like MetalSucks and Metal Injection who’ve been nothing but cancers to the scene. In a league of their own, outcasts and the face of the enemy for those aforementioned. In much the same way as all of us who’ve stepped into the world of black metal and who have eventually developed the mindset to exist and to think on a plateau above what’s common, Deströyer 666 live by the code of the wolf and everything it stands for. Heroes if you ask me, are vital to the genre and a proud institution that any artist who’s truly free should emulate even if it’s only to a degree. Hail the White Wolf! All hail Deströyer 666… 

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on May 2, 2023.

Polish one-man black metal band Zørormr returns after 7 years with its fourth full-length album The Monolith, which was released on March 24th through Moloch's label Via Nocturna, featuring Icanraz (drums) and Quazarre (lead guitar) as guest musicians.

The Monolith begins with the title track, which starts out slowly and eerie with synths and some chilling sound effects before drums and guitars take the lead. Although rhythmically slow at first, it quickly changes to aggressive tremolo riffing and blast beats, with harsh vocals joining along for the ride. The good thing about the song is that it constantly changes tempo and I really like the fact that it's pretty dynamic, even though I was afraid that it might be monotone. The track which I like particularly for its aggressive riffing, wonderful solos and even the title is the fourth track 'I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream'. To some it may seem like a cheesy song title, but I personally found it to be quite a powerful message. Tracks on the album don't really differentiate all that much, but what I like a lot is that there are always powerful lead sections and guitar solos that go along nicely with the heavy and melodic riffs. When paying closer attention to the musical style all the way down to the riffs, drumming, solos etc., during certain sections it felt like I was listening to some later Necrophobic albums which have songs in a similar songwriting fashion. Although the songs are impressive sounding, I did have a bit of a hard time to really get into this album as a whole. My problem with the songs is that they aren't really all that memorable and strong for me to get immersed or sucked into, despite having very cool moments from time to time. Maybe it's just a matter of preference, but I think that a lot of other people who search for something "tangible" in the music might also have a hard time finding something to their liking. Another thing I would like to talk about is the album cover by Paweł Kuranda, which although looks impressive and awesome, felt a bit strange because it looks like it's something that came straight out of a comic book, even the character on the cover looks like the Silver Surfer from the Marvel comics. The album's production is very modern and high quality, but generally speaking, the heavy guitar tone, distorted bass, heavy drums and harsh vocals are all top notch.

Although the album isn’t something that could hold my attention from start to finish, nevertheless managed to provide some decent level of satisfaction. It's far from a bad experience, but I wish there was a bit more to what I could grasp and enjoy. I would say that is more or less meant for fans of modern sounding black metal bands that don't necessarily excel or stand out.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10