Rating: 8.0
Country: USA
Release Date: 2007
Record Label: Hells Headbangers
Track list:
1. This Is Fucking War
2. I Hate Christians
3. Pyre
4. To Defile
5. Immortalize
6. Ogrish
7. Unbaptized
8. Hex
9. Smell the Burning Churches
10. Face of Evil
11. Lucifer
12. My Evil Concubine
13. Slaughter the Heavens
14. No Place for the Cross
15. Rebuilding Sodom
16. Riders of the Apocalypse
17. Power of Darkness
Band Website: Nunslaughter |
Nunslaughter - Hex 
Don of the Dead: Vocals, bass
Reaper: Bass
Zack Of Death: Guitar
Jim Sadist: Drums
Like masturbation, Nunslaughter has always been one of the those guilty pleasures you're almost ashamed to admit having such a fondness for. Let's face it, if you've heard one Nunslaughter release you've most likely heard them all and thus know what to expect; ridiculously adolescent and mindlessly over-the-top filth w/ an old school Possessed seal of approval stamped on the cover. Indeed, there's nothing sophisticated or 'technical' about this band and that's part of the charm. Basically, just picture if you will any number of bad horror movies you've ever watched where the only thing compensating for the lack of plot was the gratuitous amounts of gore. Nunslaughter is basically the musical equivalent of all this and they indeed revel in the sickness the same way Elizabeth Bathory reveled in virgins' blood.
Of course, I can go on and on about all the particular details that make Nunslaughter's Hex a step above previous releases but basically it's the same tried and true formula they've stuck w/ since rising out of the ashes 20 years ago. The riffs are still as frenetically urgent and triumphant as anything the late great Possessed ever put to recording. At times the militant pace seems to conjure up images of rising hordes marching into glorious battle (see "Smell the Burning Churches") which are indeed headbang worthy. Other times, the tempo takes a bit of a nosedive into more sludgier, cavernous territory which eerily conjures up the spirit of Autopsy (see "Lucifer", "Power of Darkness"). Truth be told, it's during these slower, more calculating moments where I honestly feel Nunslaughter does the most damage for you can feel the impending doom at hand telling you, "You're completely fucked!" Granted the whole package is as Death Metal as Britney Spears is a walking trainwreck but somehow the drummer's sloppy aesthetic seems to lend a noticeable hardcore punk element to the proceedings (think early Misfits, The Exploited, etc.) which enhances the rough-around-the-edges appeal. During some of the more frenetic moments, it sounds as if the drummer is practically blasting out of his skin until there's nothing but bone and sinew splattered all over his kit!
Overall, if you've been a diehard fan since day one, then indeed you might want to seek this out to complete your already growing collection. Otherwise, snobs beware for this is one monster of a record that doesn't cater to your average tech death geek. No, this a whole other monster that by the end of your first listen, you'd be heading to the showers to rinse off the filth. And something tells me that's exactly what Nunslaughter intended!
January 19th, 2007
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