Molestor’s proverbials are spread so much wider…
Shat out into the world by Iron Bonehead Productions on 1 July 2016 and wiped up by Jason “not again!” Guest
With Star Wars being very much back in vogue, it should come as no surprise to find members of its cast making the odd guest appearance, no? And so, on Anal Blasphemy’s fourth album Western Decadence is, I assume, the first of said “odd guest appearances” with none other than Darth Vader cutting the ribbon with his infamous line “I find your lack of faith disturbing” opening the title track. Midway through the organ-decorated black metal raging and we get a second guest appearance from Akiro the Wizard from Conan the Barbarian: “All manner of pleasures and diversions were indulged. Wealth can be wonderful, but you know, success can test one’s mettle as surely as the strongest adversary.” So, it looks like mainman Molestor Kadotus has got the red carpet out for his fourth full length collection of blasphemous bottom burps…
The trem-picked riff that drives ‘I Am The Claw Of Vengeance’ is penetrating, its power fortified by the dense heft of the drums and the dark veneer of the keyboards. But as with the opening track, it’s Molestor’s vocals that give it its true power, his vicious bark and his measured mantras is penetrating and accentuates the dark grooves that urge this album along. ‘Pleasure Of Flesh’ is a chunky beast of a track, its dragged tempo and sturdily pedalled riffs enhancing its heaviness. With ‘…And God Punished Them’, Molestor brings an industrial edge to the album, the track a combination of hard processed rhythms, cold atmospherics and a barrage of ever-mounting movie samples that is just insanely intense and indicates that Anal Blasphemy’s proverbials are being spread much wider than on previous works. Thankfully.
The black metal brutality returns full force for ‘Massturbation For The Virgin Whore’, the singalongy chorus – yes, really – fired by the track’s deliberate pace and sturdy riffs. Molestor’s organ on the rise again, ‘Believe In The Devil’ maintains the same dirge-like tempo and feel with the histrionic vocal augmenting the grandeur of the album, a trait that ‘Satanic Credo’ embraces albeit in a more subtle manner. Clean guitar, tribal drums and reverbed spoken word vocals hailing Satan (naturally), it’s an intriguing and unsettling piece, outdone only by the mesmerizing sampled loops and electronic experimentation of ‘Outro – The Western Chastity’. And with the voice of a girl saying “I’m a good Christian girl”, the album closes with a chuckle, Molestor’s perspective of religion made perfectly clear. Marvellous.
The first and last time I heard Anal Blasphemy was on the 2014 split with Forbidden Eye, The Perverse Worship of Satanic Sins (reviewed here) and that didn’t compel further listening. That Molestor has pushed his musical boundaries beyond what I heard there and on other releases researched back then has served his vision well. With a broader and more diverse palette, Western Decadence is darker, more substantial, and makes his mockery of religion so much more engaging that we find ourselves laughing along with Molestor and his foes. Splendid. Hilarious album cover too.
7 out of 10
Track list:
- Western Decadence
- I Am The Claw Of Vengeance
- Pleasure Of Flesh
- …And God Punished Them
- Massturbation For The Virgin Whore
- Believe In The Devil
- Satanic Credo
- Outro – The Western Chastity
