Review by Faithless on February 19, 2020.

Facing censorship and prejudices have been some of the problems that many extreme metal bands in the western part of the planet have faced through the years. Names like Rotting Christ, Marduk or Deicide have scared the masses of brainless church followers that make a big deal when an artist just wants to shock the audiences. Now imagine what is to have an extreme metal band in countries like Israel or Lebanon, where religious extremists are even part of the police and censorship is the daily bread. Well, that’s the case of Kaoteon that had to relocate to the Netherlands after a misunderstanding with the local Lebanon police that were accusing the band of being satanic.

2018 Damnatio Memoriae was their second full length and what a hell of a release it is I must say. This album is pure madness and chaos translated into music; did I say music? I should have said, sonic blasphemous extermination. The core of the band is Mr. Anthony Kaoteon (guitar player) and Walid Wolflust (vocalist) but for this album they recruited two out of this world musicians. On drums Fredrik Widigs from Marduk and on bass Linus Klausenitzer from Obscura as session musicians. I have to say that the addition of these two monsters of metal was a very clever move for the 'not the well-known' band and what technique, skill and devastation those two bring to Damnatio Memoriae!.

Talking about musicianship on this record I have to say that its a delicacy and orgasm for your ears if you enjoy chaotic black/death metal. Anthony is a riff master, ranging from melodic passages a la eastern style to neck breaking blasting riffs. Wolflust only spits venom and hate with his vocals using a variety of shades of high-pitched shrieks (most predominant in the album) and some growls here and there. Fredrik Widigs is a hyper blasting machine behind the kit that elevates the songs to an epic status and Linus Klausenitzer demonstrates that bassists are mostly underrated, but this is not the case. He shows art of the state bass executions that enriches the textures of the whole album. Be a witness of the sonic extermination of these skilled musicians in tracks like “Barren Lands”, “Raging HellFire”, “In The Mouth of Kaos” and the self-titled “Damnatio Memoriae”. In general, the predominant elements you will hear on this record are death metal ones but there is also a blasphemous aura coming from the singer that creates an obscure feeling on it.

Kaoteon breathes Sulphur on this record, lyrics are declarations of hate for existence, politics and social problems like drug use. For instance, take this passage on the song “Raging HellFire” as a synthesis of the ideology behind the lyrics: “We drown our broken dreams on substance, we poison our veins to forget, we burn in perdition forever, here, where patriotism and ignorance are strength”. I really appreciate when metal bands exit the “satan” or “dark-side” approach in their lyrics and make an extra effort to be critical with the reality is surrounding them. Specially, in the oppressive context they grew up.

In conclusion, I have to say that we have a really outstanding record here people. We can be all dicks and say the cliché phrases like for example, Kaoteon has not invented nothing here or a bunch of bands have done this type of musical execution before and better but let’s be honest as well. These guys do it with an animosity and hostility that many bands lack, you can really feel the anger in the vocals and in the lyrics as well as in the music itself. That's why I'm going to give Kaoteon a very high rating. Not a 10 because I expect even more from this Lebanese extreme act in the near future.

Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Review by Adam M on September 5, 2011.

Hero’s Last Rite performs a Slayer influenced brand of Thrash that is mixed with some obvious core influences. The music played by this band is fiery and powerful and this is demonstrated early in the proceedings with the highlight title track. This song will get the juices flowing with its aggressive nature and memorable chorus.

The music on this disc is more comparable to Slayer circa "Seasons In The Abyss" than the classic "Reign In Blood" because of the slightly more open-ended approach the band takes. There is some melody to these tracks and not pure punishment at every second as well. One can see variation added in tracks like 'Shame', which features some stellar solos to break up the pacing. Also, the transition from the storming 'Why We Die' into the pretty closing acoustic track 'Bleed' is effective.

For the most part, the music shows a fairly high tempo, however and remains fairly gripping. There is a lack of polish that prevents this from ever reaching the status set by Slayer with their greatest works and it does make the recording feel slightly underdeveloped. The musicianship is pretty tight, but it could be tighter and the vocals are rough around the edges. It’s these issues that make this a solid release, but a far from spectacular one by any stretch of the imagination.

Fans of both Thrash and Hardcore together will be the ones that derive the most enjoyment out of the release because it’s a hybrid of sorts, despite sticking to a rigid mindset. I had a good deal of fun with "Inevitable Is The End". It’s well performed, but lacks a bit of spark and refinement.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 7
Originality: 6.5
Overall: 7.0

Rating: 7.1 out of 10