Aggressive Mutilator - "Det djävlanästet" (Defense Records/Mythrone Promotion, 2018)

Band: Aggressive Mutilator
Title: Det djävlanästet
Genre: Punkish Black Metal
Time: 17.48 min
Release date: 2018
Rating: 83/100













After Stolen Lives, today there is another album that Mythrone Promotion sent me in physical format. And we'll talk about one of those bands that I like (almost) regardless of the quality of their music. This because Aggressive Mutilator brings totally you to the rawest '80s, when bands like Venom and Hellhammer dominated the black metal underground scene. And, for someone like me that recently published a book about the so-called "first wave of black metal" (it is titled "Nel Segno del Marchio Nero" and, for the moment, is completely in Italian), this band is really perfect to satisfy my hunger of ultra-ancient extreme metal. But who are these Aggressive Mutilator? And why are we talking about them? Well, they are a Swedish duo consisting of veterans of the extreme underground scene (especially the bassist/drummer Micael Zetterberg, that plays also in many other acts such as Terrorama). And today we are talking about them because, in 2018, they released a second album through Defense Records and the same Mythrone Promotion. That album, released after many demos and also some compilations (yes, this band is really prolific in terms of releases!) is entitled "Det djävlanästet". Fortunately, behind this unpronunceable title, there is a simple and direct sound through 8 tracks composed between 2016 and 2018.

But "Det djävlanästet" is "simple and direct" just from its duration since it is a full-lenght album lasting only 18 minutes circa, with songs that are often long 2 minutes. In this narrow time frame, you'll find essentially a black metal very rooted in the '80s such it is so raw and punkish. More specifically, it is characterized also by an unpolished and dusty production; by the totally out of control vocal performance of Mikael Holm (also guitarplayer) that's able to spew forth possessed screams but even absurd and sick clean vocals; by some influences coming from the second wave of black metal (like in certain melodies or in the occasional use of the blast-beats); and by plenty of d-beat drums. But it's really surprising that, even though this duo plays intentionally in a so clumsy way, the tracklist offers a nice variety.

Speaking about the variety, I can mention firstly the opening song "Dead Pigs", that's surely the most violent track in the list thanks to its stormy passages in blast-beat reminding me a fuckin' lot of Darkthrone of the "Transilvanian Hunger"-era. Instead, the following "Hypocrite Church" is a dark mid-tempo with Antichristian themes. After that, there is "Bland löss och annat fanskap", a short instrumental with horror keyboards, that you can hear also in another similar instrumental titled "The Orb", more paranoid than the first one. As 7th track, you'll meet the "Ripper Bastard", a song about a dangerous motherless "twisted mind" where the blast-beats comes back and that is opened in a strange way through a "virtuoso" guitar. And finally, the album is closed with "Victim#59". Believe me, I love so much this very intense, punkish black/speed metal track à la Midnight/Shitfucker that I am used to listen to it again and again, so it's my favorite song of the album with no ifs and no buts!

Ok, maybe one of the instrumentals is useless because too similar from the other. And ok, maybe the lenght of this album is too short. But fuck every doubt of this kind about "Det djävlanästet" because it kick many asses...also since this title is a incredible tongue-twister difficult to say and to write correctly! Do you know why I like this album? Not only because it shows a first wave black metal but also because Aggressive Mutilator have an adorable "I don't give a fuck"-attitude that's very useful to give the right punkish intensity to their music. That's why they plays in a so lovely raw, vulgar, awkward (but in a positive manner, mind you!) and primitive way, but you can understand this starting from the "ugly" cover artwork of the album, that's clearly inspired to the aesthetics of the '80s' demotapes. At this point, if you like ancient bands like Venom, Hellhammer and Bathory but also newer bands such as Truchlo Strzygi, Malokarpatan, Midnight, Shitfucker, the early Ruach Raah or Wømb, then it's MATHEMATICAL that you'll like also Aggressive Mutilator. If not, you don't know shit!

Tracklist:

1 - Dead Pigs
2 - Hypocrite Church
3 - Bland löss och annat fanskap
4 - Det djävlanästet
5 - The Orb
6 - Träldomens tid är för evigt
7 - Ripper Bastard
8 - Victim#59

Line-up:

Mikael Holm - vocals/guitars
Micael Zetterberg - bass/drums

BandCamp: http://aggressivemutilator.bandcamp.com/
Defense Records: http://www.defensemerch.com/
Mythrone Promotion: https://www.facebook.com/mythroneprom