Album Review
Congratulations Profanatica! With Disgusting Blasphemies Against God you’ve released full-length number two, meaning that you’re now officially a real band. The Incantation offshoot from 1990? Now a full-time weapon of Christ-blast. Gimmicky promo-picture-penis-wagging? Now part of an ethos. Paul Ledney foresaw this possibility, resurrecting the name to give your raucous and sewer-stink black metal the time and dedication it so desperately (un)deserved.
Congratulations Profanatica! For conjuring the most ludicrously over-the-top blasphemy ever with your trash can black metal. Titles such as “Pious Piece of Shit,” “Smashing Religious Fucking Statues” and “Excrement Sacrosanct” leave little to the imagination about your dedication to the evil arts or your creativity. It’s a shame to have that great rumbling bass sound and the few inspired tremolo melodies wasted on directionless and hookless songs completely devoid of character or dynamics. But hell, if there is fun to be found in relentless mid-paced blast beats, muddy riffs, and unidentifiable song breaks, well then you must be like pigs in shit. And since the goal was obviously to make Disgusting Blasphemies Against God a chore of a listen, feel free to take a victory lap around the sty for that too.
So congratulations Profanatica... You’re the reason people on the outside can’t take black metal seriously. Instead of presenting your anti-Christian philosophy through deeply-researched and intelligent lyrics à la Deathspell Omega, or even a moderately smart approach like Watain, you choose blatant cretinism, without the cheeky fun of a band like Venom. You are the Dane Cook of black metal: cheap, possessing little observable talent and only out to make your fan base giggle. But for you that group is tiny, and destined only to bleed membership with the arrival of Disgusting Blasphemies Against God.
Congratulations Profanatica! For conjuring the most ludicrously over-the-top blasphemy ever with your trash can black metal. Titles such as “Pious Piece of Shit,” “Smashing Religious Fucking Statues” and “Excrement Sacrosanct” leave little to the imagination about your dedication to the evil arts or your creativity. It’s a shame to have that great rumbling bass sound and the few inspired tremolo melodies wasted on directionless and hookless songs completely devoid of character or dynamics. But hell, if there is fun to be found in relentless mid-paced blast beats, muddy riffs, and unidentifiable song breaks, well then you must be like pigs in shit. And since the goal was obviously to make Disgusting Blasphemies Against God a chore of a listen, feel free to take a victory lap around the sty for that too.
So congratulations Profanatica... You’re the reason people on the outside can’t take black metal seriously. Instead of presenting your anti-Christian philosophy through deeply-researched and intelligent lyrics à la Deathspell Omega, or even a moderately smart approach like Watain, you choose blatant cretinism, without the cheeky fun of a band like Venom. You are the Dane Cook of black metal: cheap, possessing little observable talent and only out to make your fan base giggle. But for you that group is tiny, and destined only to bleed membership with the arrival of Disgusting Blasphemies Against God.
PolarBear |
2 weeks ago |
Damn it, anonymous guys, stop ruining my support for this band with your stupid rants!
Anonymous |
2 weeks ago |
this is a friggin' great album. terrible review. bands like this should be praised not pissed on. you're pretty much talking about a first wave band. what the hell do you expect them to sound like? progression is for queers....and you know what else progression is...bad marketing. you market to a niche. you don't alienate your fanbase. the climate of this review is whats wrong with today's music....any genre. underground, raw music always stands head and shoulders above any kind of artsy fartsy maninstream crap that claims to be "more intelligent." the production here is great. cavernous, buzzsaw guitars, great drum sound and huge bass that just flat out destroys you. give me "pious piece of shit" any day over some bullshit like liturgy. this review should be "COVERED IN BLACK SHIT!"
Anonymous |
posted on 9/2011 |
This review misses the whole point of this style of music. Metal like this, as well at the majority of hell's headbangers bands, are meant to sound like lobotomized black metal. Like the primal core of your brain. You just don't get it. Your review is full of tirades and ad-hominems and you surely can't be over 20 years old. You probably enjoy deathcore and experimental metal like portal and fap off to every new willowtip and dillenger escape plan release. This is meant to be primal. They were called idiot-savant back in the day when the released the first havohej album. There isn't any deeper conceptualization or substance to this because the goal of profanatica is to rape that shit the fuck out of you with it's primal simplicity. Yeah, they're cheeky as well with they're over the top ridiculousness, and that's part of the appeal. Profanatica have been around for decades but your art fag bands will only last 6 months until the next deathcore fag band comes out.
PolarBear |
posted on 2/2011 |
Ummm... I really like this album... and Wolves in the Throne Room and Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord. I could care less how they title their songs as long as they keep destroying me with that sick (and audible!) bass. Not great, but maybe a 7? Whatever. Hells Headbangers is an awesome lable and I totally get why they keep supporting these guys.
hooter |
posted on 9/2010 |
Oh, and I just had to add, just because they never had an official full length for the majority of their career shouldn't be any means to disregard them as a band. Ares Kingdom (to site one example) took a decade to release an LP and last I checked Incendiary (their excellent effort from earlier this year) is going to be on my year end list
Anonymous |
posted on 9/2010 |
According to my humble self, that score is far too generous. When I first listened to this album, I found myself wanting to head out and dismember some random passing skater. My patience was completely destroyed. This type of ''songwriting'' is a pathetic excuse to record an album. These guys are probably in the game to look badass with the impression that it gives them any sort of street cred.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: a whole lot of raw black metal that comes out these days is nothing but pissed off wankery that goes strictly nowhere in terms of relevance or real chops. Profanatica should head back to the practice room, or simply throw in the fucking towel.
Wanderer |
posted on 8/2010 |
I like the vocals on Circle the Wagons. Also, newer Darkthrone is a collage of different sounds; Black, Trad., Crust, Thrash, Death, all dealt out with a genuine feel to them. This is just tired and boring. And who really gives a fuck what is more true to the Black Metal sound?
darkthroneisdead |
posted on 8/2010 |
Great review Zach! Reviews should have some opinions and feelings. I am sick of many publications and sites who will not give bad reviews. I am sick of bands and artists releasing whatever they happen to record as well. The new Profanatica IS crap, and should be identified as such. There are plenty of bands in all genres of metal for people to enjoy. I dig several bands on Hell's Headbangers, as well as bands such as Deathspell Omega and WitTR. Thanks for calling out the crap.
lee |
posted on 8/2010 |
"@ Compeller, I would much rather listen to WitTR over this. This is irrevelant, outdated, Von worshipping, insipid bullshit. At least WitTr has something remotely ORIGINAl in their sound."
OK, so what makes this any different then Circle the Wagons that everyone jizzes over when it is really about a 5/10 album with terrible vocals? Cos it is Fenriz? People like what they like. Crap like this and even Circle the Wagon has much more in common with what is really original BM then art house bands from New York do.
Compeller |
posted on 8/2010 |
@idesofmarch
It's not trolling when I'm just saying the review was ridiculous. I don't really care about Profanatica, but to say they shouldn't sing about shitting on Jesus is like saying Manowar shouldn't sing about loving metal. If you don't like metal then you shouldn't review it. Just admit you're an indie rock fan who dabbles in indie metal and move on. Let real metalheads review real metal.
Reverend Campbell 
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posted on 8/2010 |
@Anxiety:
I agree that there should be bands that keep those central tenets alive, absolutely. At this stage of the game, though, I'm more drawn to bands that explore other arenas. (That said, if the riffs are there, it's a moot point. I usually only give a fuck about lyrics if they're blatantly atrocious.) I think the main thing is one that you mentioned--rebellion. For me, that's the most important element in heavy metal.
I still think that Christianity is a social plague that should be hammered from every angle; it's just that there are more impactful and intelligent ways to do it than dressing up like bloody nuns and writing songs about bodily fluids. Profanatica have been encased in ice since 1991, and these themes were way more appealing back then. Now, it seems kinda plastic.
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posted on 8/2010 |
Juho |
posted on 8/2010 |
I'll admit that AH still has a valid point here. Profanatica has been there before the explosion of the second wave, and there's no reason for them to change their approach. This album is for the people who see black metal more as a life-style than as music.
Well-written, opinionated review, Zach.
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posted on 8/2010 |
konradkantor |
posted on 8/2010 |
@Anxiety - One thing I've noticed over the years is that thought provocative music always happens to coincide with thought provocative lyrics. The two don't always have to go hand-in-hand, but in most cases when someone puts a shitload of time, dedication and effort into their music they aren't going to ruin it with childish lyrics.
Burzum is the perfect example. I'd say Varg has done more for the progression of MUSIC in general than almost any other metal musician. His lyrics were filled with fantasy, blasphemy, mystery and rebellion, but they were well thought out and intelligent, just like his music. Even the best of the Mayhem songs are deeper than simply blasphemy, and those are consequently the songs that have the most inspiring riffs. If you think all black metal should sound like "carnage", that's fine, but metal has come a long way and will continue to progress forever.
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posted on 8/2010 |
Anxiety Hangover |
posted on 8/2010 |
@The Rev
Isn't "railing against 'all that is holy'" intrinsic to black metal, in the same way singing about death ~should be~ intrinsic to death metal? I don't know how many of us there are, but I'm one of the fans willing to admit that I don't need, or even necessarily want, intellectual posturing in my heavy metal. Give me a little fantasy, a little blasphemy, a little mystery, a little rebellion and I'm happy.
Reverend Campbell |
posted on 8/2010 |
@ Anxiety:
I think the main difference is time. It's 2010. That kind of stuff is cool when you're younger--for bands and fans alike. And back then, it was actually quite novel, in spite of the amateurism. There was an aura of danger that surrounded the first and second waves, and it has long since dissipated. Railing against "all that is holy" just seems absurd in the present day. It had a time and place, but there's nothing of value in that message anymore. If these guys had any balls, they'd be wearing burqas onstage, not habits.
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posted on 8/2010 |
Wharwulf |
posted on 8/2010 |
Always love it when the "Terrible Review Militia" comes to the rescue and rips up the reviewer who ripped up their favorite band's precious album. Only thing worse would be if it's actually a band member who does it. And that promo pic on the main page for this? One of the goofiest ones I've run across in a while. Just flat out goofy stuff...
steelbreeze280 |
posted on 8/2010 |
Terrible review and an embarrassment for this website. Obviously biased, as the scoring for production and musicianship is completely inaccurate. Production is solid (reviewer admits as much, "great rumbling bass sound") and Ledney remains on of the most nuanced drummers in black metal (other instrumentation is competent). Basically this review is an infantile tirade against the lyrical content, and the fact that the reviewer posits pretentious, style-over-substance crap like Deathspell Omega as a "smarter" alternative (for those who want to prove to themselves how smart/sophisticated they are) to Profanatica, whose obviously tongue-in-cheek ham-fitted blasphemy flies right over his head, proves what a completely ridiculous and baseless review this is. "You're the reason people on the outside can't take black metal seriously." Black metal musicians who want "outsiders" to take their music "seriously" are pandering fools. I guess though Ledney has succeeded in raising the ire and offending these "outsiders", ironically the whole purpose of his music.
zach |
posted on 8/2010 |
@Compeller: there is plenty about the music (or as much as can be written) in the second paragraph. Also, you're just too cute.
@Anxiety Hangover: I realize that this is close to that early stuff, but even on Deathcrush, Mayhem were ATTEMPTING to write riffs. This is just a mockery.
@CannibalDave: ...you might be right?
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posted on 8/2010 |
Anxiety Hangover |
posted on 8/2010 |
I don't like this, but in spirit and execution this is far closer to the spirit of the first and second waves of black metal than most of the shit that people now call black metal. Complaining about Profanatica's cretinish, hackneyed satanism/anti-christianity is funny given how cretinish, hackneyed and immature bands like Mayhem, Immortal, Bathory et. al. were in their "blackest" guises; two words: "Chainsaw Gutsfuck."
Compeller |
posted on 8/2010 |
Go listen to your Wolves in the Throne Room you Portland living indie black metal hippie. Then jack off on your Melvins and Blut Aus Nord vinyls and suck your own indie pussy woman. Your entire review was about lyrical content...
*grumbles under breath about girls who complain that metal hasn't moved beyond Satan smashing Jesus and think artsy fartsy black metal is somehow above everything and forget that every original black metal band is a parody of itself and probably complain about run-on sentences too fuck you!*
