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Naked Whipper – Chapel Defilement

naked whipper – chapel defilement

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With the reissue of Naked Whipper’s cult back catalogue and its (unexpected) return on stage, appearing on the Never Surrender festival, it should come as no real surprise that we now have a new album in our hands here as well. The same goes for the involvement of Iron Bonehead Productions in the release of ‘Chapel Of Defilement’, as that label was also the (co)instigator for reissuing the old material and bringing the band to the stage.

Although this “comeback” was a long time coming, it is still met with great anticipation. There are few bands in the German underground metal scene that exude more “cult” and despite being inactive since the mid 90’s, Naked Whipper is basically next there with the revered Blood. Still, the downside of this all is that there are quite big shoes to fill. I myself always try to restrain my enthusiasm somewhat, always wary of disappointment. But something in me told me not to worry too much in this particular case…

If, for a change, we’d start with a conclusion of sorts: people who enjoy their fair share of Black/Death Metal violence shouldn’t worry at all, Naked Whipper is delivering all the goods here. The album is brimming with aggressive bursts of blind rage and a barrage of instrumental whipping. In other words, a musical rampage of monumental proportions. Yet, the real aficionado who like to go down to the nitty gritty of the music, the true squeamish among us could possibly draw some quibbles.

First of all, when comparing ‘Chapel Defilement’ to the bands classic old stuff from the first half of the 90’s, it is clear that the band strayed from that trademark Naked Whipper sound. Those who hold ‘Painstreaks’ dear, originally released in 1995 by now defunct but cult Malodorous Mangled Innards Records, might feel a bit displaced. That first album had a unique sound that was basically just how Napalm Death, with its early Hellhammer-fuelled flavour, would sound when it was going on a rabid Black Metal raid. Especially the guitar sound had much in common with Napalm Death’s first record, holding that delicious Hellhammerian reverb to it. This is also what earned Naked Whipper the “Black Grind” label at the time. In all honesty, that specific sound is gone and although the album turned out to be a good and solid record, it’s a somewhat of a loss. After all, the uniqueness of Naked Whipper is somewhat lost with this.

Instead, ‘Chapel Defilement’ now is an album that can “just” be filed under Bestial Black/Death Metal, with the rest of the crowd. I can see why people feel a bit disappointed, but on the other hand, the music on offer is just on par with the current (Bestial) Black/Death Metal scene. So, in that respect, ‘Chapel Defilement’ is still an album that every fan of this niche genre should at least check out. (FelixS)

— — — — — —

Most of us have come to gather that regularity of releases in the darkest corners of the underground doesn’t really exist. Releases happen when they happen… if they happen at all. I was a measly kid just entering my teen years the first time I heard Naked Whipper, when their debut full length ‘Painstreaks’ was released 30 years ago. That album quickly gained the ‘legendary’ status, but unfortunately, for the reasons I’m not going to discuss here (as this is not the time nor place for it), the band went on a prolonged hiatus soon after the release of the debut.

Without any word on the band being active again in the wider public, the first ‘single’  from ‘Chapel Defilement’ appeared online at the end of November 2024… while fans from their first round were losing our minds, a lot of younger people listening to it, had no clue what they were listening to. During the first couple of times listening to ‘The Swinepriest Bedlam’ those familiar with the absolutely destructive sadogrind concoction Naked Whipper became famous for, I’ve got a feeling they never really left. Not a grain of the lunacy was lost and the song simply crushed and grinded everything in front of it. Even though I’ve waited for three decades to hear the sophomore album, the wait became unbearable even though the release was just a couple of weeks away.

And then it finally happened and quickly showed the first and later released ‘single’ ‘Depraved to the Bone’ were two of the ’softest’ songs on the record. Listening to the record from the beginning to the end – From a simple short ‘Intro’ (which is basically a woman screaming in ecstasy which swiftly turns into fear while surrounded with demonic grunting – seriously, what did you expect? Like the band name didn’t tell you enough?) you’re thrown into ridiculous madness which just escalates to the point of absurdity through the next 33 minutes. There’s another ‘Intro’ in the middle of the record, probably meant to give you a couple of seconds of a breather… But again, the band is called Naked Whipper. Don’t expect to get a second of anything similar to ‘break’ here. The second intro makes sense in several different ways (while I assume it was probably recorded sometime in the past when the idea of the album might have been different, it now serves as giving the listener a couple of seconds of pumping up the discomfort, before the record grinds on you again. There are still parts reminiscent of the now legendary debut (like the opening intro of ‘Fucked on Cross’ to the absolute bloodcurling vocals of ‘Wow wow Wholy Whore, Hot Wax Fat Candles’.

While I absolutely despise people who simply describe music as brutal, because they are not saying anything about the music and the brutality it brings… I’m still searching for how to describe it better than just “brutal”. Simply and primitively put into words: If you imagine this record as a demon, picture this: the demon is chasing you, catching you, ripping you apart while you’re aware of everything going on, pulling your entrails out, setting your remains on fire, burying you and finally, pissing on your grave while laughing and wearing your entrails around its neck. That should draw a picture of how this record sounds… and it’s beyond ridiculously magnificent.

Consider yourself warned, the sadogrind kings are back. (Black Mary)

Iron Bonehead Productions

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