Bestial Warlust - "Storming Bestial Legions - Live '96" (Hells Headbangers Records, 2017)

Band: Bestial Warlust
Title: Storming Bestial Legions . Live '96
Genre: Bestial Black/Death Metal
Year: 17th February 2017
Time: 36 min
Rating: 86/100













To summarize: the last my two reviews were about the debut EP of the Danes Vomit Angel and the split album between the Chileans Black Ceremonial Kult and the US duo Genocide Beast, and all these are 3 very young bestial black/death metal bands also if the first ones are composed of (ex)-Sadomator/Sadogoat members. Now, this new review is about a band that has made seriously the story of the bestial black/death metal genre: Bestial Warlust. Born in 1990 as a death metal band named Corpse Molestation, Bestial Warlust released in 1994 and in 1995 two very influential full-lenght albums before splitting-up in 1997. Now, their moniker is back because Hells Headbangers Records has unearthed an old gig of these Aussie maniacs, recorded in its entirety during in 1996. So, here you are "Storming Bestial Legions - Live '96", a live album able to show definitively to the entire world all the ferocity and hate on stage of Bestial Warlust.


Just Damon Bloodstorm screams "WE ARE BESTIAL FUCKIN' WARLUUUST!", the hostilities starts with "Death Rides Out", and, from here, no one will can escape. The productions isn't perfect but the band is truly in a state of grace playing mosty tracks taken from "Blood and Valour", an album surely more various than the "Vengeance War 'till Death" debut, but both the albums are true masterpieces. Moreover, Damon Bloodstorm is a total madman, and it's incredible the quantity of "FUCKIN'" et similia vomited violently by his devilish mouth. In this sense, the climax is represented by the foul-mouthed "Beerz and Blood", an anti-poser new song destined to be released in the curious 1997 split titled "Headbangers Against Disco Vol. 1" (their last official production before this live album). The same "Beerz and Blood" shows that Bestial Warlust remained very faithful until death to their formula without compromises so to play always at the sound of (black) light. In fact, you can listen to the first and last mid-tempo of the entire live album only into the Bathory cover, "Massacre".

Now, for those few "ignorants" (but I hope they aren't here haha!) that don't know nothing about Bestial Warlust, you have to know that theirs isn't a music but a total blitzkrieg of apocalyptic proportions inspired by Blasphemy and Sarcofago, both extremized to the maximum levels. Theirs is a sound characterised principally by an horde literally unstoppable of blast-beasts but rendered always effective by a drummer full of imaginative dynamics like Marcus Hellcunt (in my opinion, he is one of the better bestial black/death metal drummers!), a riffing half black and half death rendered more interesting due to the lead guitar of Joe Skullfucker able to rape his axe with very violent and noisy solos, and by the hateful screams of Damon Bloodstorm, that erases every trace of piety and humanity also thanks to the occasional abominable growls of the same Joe Skullfucker. The result of all this is an apocalyptic and bellicose sound just apparently monodimensional that you can only love or hate without middle ground. Hence, here you are tracks like the inexorable attack of "Barbaric Horde" (its false finale is fantastic!), the martial "Heathens" (where Damon Bloodstorm mentions Destroyer 666!) or the chaos full of excessive violence of "Blood and Valour" (where there is a freezing reverb on the screams of Damon!) before closing the live gig with the ultra-brutal cover of Bathory's "Massacre".

In brief, it tooks 21 years to bring to the light this live album but it was worth it. Also because this album could useful to understand the direct origins of a now popular genre like bestial black/death metal in a period where new bands born everyday also to be relatively famous internationally after only two demos. In addition of this, Bestial Warlust, as you know, were very important to building, along with Sadistik Exekution, a sound typical of the most extreme bands from Australia/New Zealand. Some examples? Abominator, Cemetery Urn, Destruktor, Diocletian, Witchrist, Heresiarch, Destroyer 666 and many others. Finally, we haven't to forget that, after the end of Bestial Warlust, some of their ex-members have kept fresh their destructive gestures like Marcus Hellcunt, now in Decrepit Soul, direct sons of the barbaric and no compromise-style of Bestial Warlust.

Tracklist:

1 - Death Rides Out
2 - I, the Warrior
3 - Storming Vengeance
4 - Barbaric Horde
5 - Prelude - Descention Hell's Blood
6 - Heathens
7 - Orgy of Souls
8 - Beerz and Blood
9 - Blood and Valour
10 - Massacre (Bathory cover)

Line-up:

Damon Bloodstorm - vocals
Joe Skullfucker - lead guitars/vocals
Battleslaughter - rhythmic guitars
Necrofiend (session) - bass
Marcus Hellcunt - drums

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