The art of rage to desecrate that which is holy can often be lost like words that dissipate into smoke,for the venom upon one’s tongue can then turn to wax when transcribed into words. But there exists those where rage doesn’t just lace the tongue, instead the crown of the head to the sole of the feet becomes anointed in such rancour where both mind and body becomes a weapon enough to turn one’s stomach where feeble prayers lay into a swollen belly of worms.
‘Hell’s Thorns Attack by Sardonic Witchery becomes the hand which tears the pious doctrine to shreds and onto its severed words becomes baptized in piss and ash. Inhaling the acrid scent of Black Metal with the vehemence of Thrash Metal, Sardonic Witchery’s chants resonate in a similar energy to that of Nifelheim, Desaster and parts of Maniac Butcher.
The hands that manifest these malefic tones through the strings feels as though it is a mediator between contemptuous hate and the instrument, for the weapon of sound now becomes an extension of the body that wields it. ‘Hateful Evil Throne’ exhibits a tumultuous motion to its resonance, where the strings evoke a metallic and scabrous sonority to its sound; furthermore, it is the fusion of pure vitriol into these notes which renders onto the album its serpentine cadence.
Sardonic Witchery doesn’t just summon forth a dagger fashioned in sound, rather the magick arrives in that which is carved from the jagged edge of the blade. So too does the riffing feel, as it adopts schizophrenic demeanour, shifting from a coiling shape into a haphazard and frenzied temperament, which in turn suffuses the album in unbridled hate of the purest strain.
A militant and war-like spirit latches itself onto the percussion as the sound rips forth as a bombardment unto the consciousness, for if the guitars shaped the weapon then the drums becomes the deity of decimation. ‘Cult of a Thousand Horns’ is an example whereby the drum’s energy morphs into a battalion, pummelling and terraforming the sonic landscape in a tyrannical visage. The tonal reverberation coupled with the production crafts an intimate experience as the resonance of every beat feels like a physical attack, dense and blunt in sound yet titan-like in weight.
The maelstrom of repugnance evoked through the guitars and drums becomes the symbiosis which defines the album, for even though each element transmit in a different frequency they both converge into a melodious dialogue that speaks misanthropy. However the very enunciation of that which is nihilistic takes the shape of the vocals, ‘Raped by Horrendous Night’ showcases this where the delivery feels more like a sulphuric assault, as though the very words erupted, explode forth, blotting the atmosphere in a rancour that grips the senses. This becomes the tangible element that the mind discerns, as the vocal patterns feels like an evolution of caustic human emotions which then twists and pulls to shape itself into a weapon whose blade is invective in its oration.
A voice stayed Abraham’s hand from giving unto the blade his own flesh and blood, but the liturgy of Sardonic Witchery defiles such a voice, and the blade moves closer unto the flesh, as a gospel of abhorrence is written from torn arteries and pulsating crimson.
