Review by Jeger on March 1, 2025.

Scour - defined as a supergroup even though the only big time heavyweight in the band happens to be one Philip H. Anselmo. They've been labeled ridiculous things like blackened grindcore, and I don't believe that they're getting the love they deserve from the black metal community. Few reviews I see for their new album and you won't see many of their patches on any battle vests. And what an under-spoken fucking talent is Phil, man. Voice like a vintage. Guy can't hit the high notes anymore, but his growls are top shelf. In some ways, I'd proclaim that Scour's music is exactly how USBM should sound: torque, horsepower and heavy as several sledgehammers. These fellas are onto something. Give me Inquisition over them any day, because I'm one of those true black metal assholes, but I happen to also be enthused over black metal in its more brutal forms. Wuldorgast anyone? And that's when Scour come in like harbingers of darkest days - foreshadowing a most vile future for humanity, all the while as their wretched blasphemies soak into your soul; extinguishing the light and igniting diabolism's flame. On February 21, Scour released Gold via Nuclear Blast.

Black metal people enjoy discussing online all the obscure cult bands they support, and I happen to enjoy writing about underground BM more than anything else as well, because that's where the integrity is. Do I want to listen to another Blashyrkh Immortal album or Hell forbid another Satyricon tragedy? I'm of the mind that most mainstream black metal bands are embarrassments, so you'd think I'd feel the same about our guys here, but I do not. This is what you call a rarity - a mainstream black metal album that one can confidently label as an example of genre-trueness. It's in the energy… There's passion ablaze for Satan along with this perpetual feeling of dread that accompanies a hopeless sort of sinking sensation to be discovered here. And into the scourge we rush now as "Cross" - in a most Watain-like semblance - delivers "The Howling" type aggression in riffing. Streamlined and lethal. Destroying the cross… Dig it…

Phil utilizes the fiend vs. brute approach to Vox, but you'll also take in sinister spoken word assurances of damnation. And what a nice balance in mixing. Everything in its place with enough of a berth surrounding each phase as to assure that nothing is lost in the mix. Engineering perfection. And that solo in "Infusorium"? You're welcome… An almost Impaled Nazarene kind of momentum but also grime to absorb during "Coin": sludgy riffs giving way to ominous guitar effects; compounded by pulsating progressions and brutish gutturals. As far as brutality is concerned, you can definitely place Scour in with the Archgoats and the Profanaticas of the scene. There just happens to be so much more going on here in the dynamics department. Nothing over-the-top, just a youthful level of passion/explosiveness that translates well into the overall velocity of the music.

Bow to your Senseis, bitches… Imagine a group of elite veterans with an obvious collective hard-on for the art of black metal coming together with the idea of creating BM that is not only redeemable but also just fucking badass like Gold here. Well, here you have it. Pure concentrated evil that packs a punch but finishes smooth as sex.

Phil's stock continues to rise and Scour happens to be a real admirable black metal endeavor. That guy from Pantera? Much more than that is Phil Anselmo - an extreme metal renaissance man who stands proudly under the sign of the Black Mark with Scour - black metal with balls… Remember when people were laughing at Scour when they first hit the scene? Listening… Yeah, crickets. The real thing, the real deal, black metal done the true way. Is it bullet belts, corpse paint and swords? Doesn't have to be. With Scour, the music speaks for itself, and in this instance, the music as it stands is intimidating enough. Black metal, at the end of the day, is much about the spreading of evil if nothing else. Consider Gold a wicked infection of pandemic proportions. At least do yourself a favor and stick around for the solos. Not a Scandinavian carbon copy but a genuine artistic entity of its own is Scour. This is real leadership in genre purity/refinement bolstered by an authentic vision for modern American black metal.

Rating: 9 out of 10