KOMMANDO BAPHOMET – UNDER THE DEATHSIGN (Godz Ov War Productions)

It’s been less than a year since Portuguese duo Kommando Baphomet unleashed their debut full-length, ‘Black Gospel Of Satanic Inquisition’, and – thanks to the lockdown, I assume – they are back already with the festering follow-up, ‘Under The Deathsign’. With the inimitable Vulturius of Irae infamy on board, it’s a guarantee that the music hereon is going to be of the highest quality.

Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, ‘Under The Deathsign’ does not disappoint. Across 35 minutes, the Iberian death worshippers deliver some prime, chaotic and suitably macabre Black / Death Metal, arising in the darkest depths of the underground and swirling through the ether like a poison, heralding incurable plague and pestilence appropriate to the times that are in it. Opener ‘Necrology’ stomps on your face and throat before ‘Restos Mortais’ lacerates flesh and eviscerates skin, the remains then carried to the ‘Chapel Of Bones’ for a warped, reverbed, echoed duology of death.

A sense of carefree evil and uncompromising abandon prevails throughout the eight offerings at the altar of death and decay, Kommando Baphomet, through murderous chopping music and distorted, cavernous vocals, effortlessly instilling a dizzying unease. Although not for the faint of heart, ‘Under The Deathsign’ is nevertheless a thoroughly enjoyable exercise in obscure Black / Death Metal, landing somewhere between Negative Plane, Krieg, Revenge, Blue Hummingbird On The Left and perhaps one of Vulturius’ other bands, Morte Incandescente.

Arriving with neither hype nor fanfare, seemingly from out of nowhere, this is a hidden gem and a welcome reaffirmation of what unworldly wonders can be excavated from Black Metal’s ever-fervent, rank and odious underground, where inspired, possessed artists tend steadfastly to the weeds and cultivate them into rotten, ugly things of inherent, perverse substance.

Evilometer: 666/666