Witchrist – Beheaded Ouroboros (2010) [Invictus Productions] // Grade: B

New Zealand’s Witchrist mixes a maniacal dose of death, doom and black metal to form one of the most maddening audio experiences of 2010. Sure, the ends seem like an easy task but the means are what often fail in this sub-genre of metal. While this is by no means OSDM, it is a throwback to all genres involved. An era where black metal was heavily distorted and death metal was as gruesome as you can muster. Think if Portal and Incantation joined forces to make an aberration of everything holy.

Witchrist’s first full-length, Beheaded Ouroboros conjures imagery of occultism, death and the rituals involved in both. A dark look into grim rituals filled with rotten blood and rasping last rites. As the blade cuts into the beast, Beheaded Ouroboros gets more and more twisted. Eight tracks and 38-minutes filled with the darkest metal the modern age has to offer. Don’t worry, this experience is filled with mid-tempo excruciation that never lets up!

“Sorcerer Of Lightning”, “Devour The Flesh” and “Temple Of War” start the war and throughout “Adoration Of Black Messiah”, the sacrifice is made. This is intensity at its most adorned. Each track is filled with despair and possesses great depth. “The Cauldron” is layer upon layer of disgusting filth, riddled with black arts and occult-themed hymns to the dark lord. With music built upon a “Shrine Of Skulls”, Witchrist delivers a fatal blow with a sacrificial knife.

You are know their “Deathbitch”, riddled with blast beats and howls. Prepare for “Judgement And Torment”, the final strand of tendon, bone and skin before Beheaded Ouroboros is completed. As a pleasant surprise and a rather fitting to metal reviews of 2010, Witchrist’s healthy interpretation of modern blackened death metal shines through in Beheaded Ouroboros. Hailing from a land used to depict Middle-Earth in the LOTR trilogy, these guys prove that they’re born of fire and brimstone.

- Prolly