Black Feast — Larenuf Jubileum

Black Feast’s history is a short one: formed in 2009, the band released a handful of demos and splits before splitting up by 2012, later to reform as Witchcraft. This isn’t unusual in and of itself. Plenty of bands dissolve after just a few years without completing a full-length. But not many of these short-lived projects end up on the roster of Nuclear War Now!. Released last month on vinyl, Larenuf Jubileum compiles the band’s Worship of Darkness demo, their Abominations of Darkness split, and a few previously unreleased promo tracks.

Questions as to how Black Feast managed to catch NWN!’s attention are silenced as soon as the eerie, pregnant ambience of the opener gives way to “Hideous Morbidity.” The boorish grunts and rasps of Nocturnal Soul of Black Oath are bone-grindingly intense, and the music that accompanies it is just as frenzied. Much in the vein of Blasphemy, Black Feast’s music is unsubtle, rough, and demonic. Short, intense tracks are let loose one after the other with not much more than a second to regain your bearings. The overall effect is impressive, as you get lost in the monstrous deluge of rumbling, bass-heavy riffs and machinegun blast beats. Perhaps a hair more refined than Blasphemy, Black Feast loses some of the sheer, blind intensity its forbearers unleashed, but not to too great an effect. The overall presentation is still raw, brutal, demonic black/death metal as mean as you’ll ever see. There are moments where the band slows down a touch that recall Beherit, but most of the album is a 666 mile per hour assault.

Had I not been revisiting Blasphemy’s Fallen Angel of Doom the previous couple weeks, I think this release would have made more of an impression on me. That said, this is still a devastating release deserving of attention. Fans of raw black/death metal done in the old way are sure to revel in the abrasive atmosphere conjured by these Finns. While dwarfed by its predecessors, Larenuf Jubileum is still a powerful release in its own right.