Impaled Nazarene
Ugra-Karma

THE REVIEW

Refute me. Read my notes all the way to the end, and you will understand. This is not a banal album, and in a moment of clarity, I can tell you: listened to without prejudice. I mean it, brothers, you might change your mind about black metal. Enjoy the read.

Aaaaamigos! Companions of metal! Broooothers in faith! We've been ranting for decades - "crazy"! they called us - on how (not) the Slayer were Nazis, on whether the big eagle and Thor's hammer in Manowar (didn't) hid Celtic crosses and fasces, on whether it was (not) permissible to listen to "Angel of Death" without being labeled as Mengele's heirs, on how the latest from Adams & Co. (not) sounds sinisterly and inexplicably pro-American and dexterous beyond all limits. Forget the Thor fairy tales, kids, now you're grown up, "Support the troops" and stick a damn **** up your ass.
Well, this brief introduction is meant to preface this controversial work by Impaled Nazarene: it's an excellent black metal record, which might sound a bit rough, but comes across as violent and semi-brilliant in some parts. The sound is raw, absolutely impactful and leaves no room for any kind of virtuosity: indeed, at times the vocals are so muddled that it seems like a "piss take". In other words: so I'm not crazy, these vocals are at times a piece of shit. However, the obsessive structure of "Gott Ist Tot" can easily pierce the black hearts of your lordships, as can "Coraxo", 20 seconds of chaotic, destructive, infernal music. No brains, little technique, some good ideas and an overdose of healthy dark, desolate violence: no macabre and dark poetry here, the tones seem more like those of English Oi!: nonetheless, "Kali Yuga" offers interesting more "meditative" and electronic cues, while the good "Cyberchrist" could actually move you. A deliberately? contradictory work.

"Aside from the major accusations they have faced, the band's real characteristic (which needs no refutation) is their great irony" (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impaled_Nazarene): ah, there you go! The authors of the recent "Pro patria Finlandia" (let's draw a merciful veil over the title), authors of the (?) hilarious "Heil ! Heil ! Heil ! Heil ! Gott ist tot, Judean Gott, ist tot", shamelessly lauded by the major international magazines, staunchly defended in the name of the satire (?) they are said to bear (for example, just for a laugh, "Cunt! SS control"). But don't be harsh, object, refute me, tell me it's all a joke, because a work with a certain musical depth cannot be crudely laced with such fascist nonsense. Please tell me it's maybe "just" anti-Christianity, tell me they're actually members of Greenpeace, that they act "on the edge" out of hatred for hippies, or tell me that it's all a joke. Tell me it's all for show, that it's a commercial ploy to sell a little more. Someone refute me, "Ugra Karma" certainly deserves a listen, deserves more, you can't humiliate a record with such idiotic lyrics.