Church Of Misery
Master Of Brutality

The Church Of Mystery is a quartet hailing directly from Japan, formed towards the late '90s. Their sound leans more towards doom but we can hear noble metal influences like Black Sabbath, along with the saturated distortions of overdrive that forge a certain connection with Kyuss, the fathers of stoner rock, and the more recent Queens Of The Stone Age.

Master of Brutality is their third work: six very respectable pieces with a dark sound and tracks dedicated to famous serial killers, true to their style. The CD starts with the voice of serial killer Ed Kemper against a backdrop of sickly sounds, but then a burst of ultra-saturated guitar notes launches the first track Killfornia, which, like an over eight-minute long serpent with a martial and grinding style, leads us to the second worthy track, also of an exhausting length but always finely crafted. The tempo remains low, the massive tracks seem like a giant struggling to walk, crushed by its own weight. With the third track Megalomania, we instead get an injection of adrenaline, given by an initial gallop in perfect classic metal style. The fourth instrumental track with muted but unsettling sounds paints a desert-like picture, as if to immerse us in it and suggest a moment of reflection. Then we start again with a fourth track still loaded with energy, scratched by a singing that evokes the shredded voice of the good old Lemmy from Motorhead. Interesting towards the end of the track is the change of tempo, separated by a solo guitar piece. The sixth track, the title track, unfolds and twists for eleven long minutes that don’t seem to bore, thanks to small variations on the main theme that embellish it at various points, leading us to the conclusion of this excellent album.