Iugulatus, the Polish black metal band responsible for the stunning ‘Call of the horned God’ returned in 2012 with ‘Satanic Pride’, a six track monster that sees them aligning themselves as one of the most powerfully heavy black metal bands out there. With a beefy production that sees the band’s sound verging on death metal territory and two tracks that pass the ten minute mark, it would seem that Iugulatus have not lost sight of the burning ambition that was so powerfully evidenced on their debut release.
The opening track of this beast is also the title track and it comes tearing out of the gates of hell foaming at the mouth and searching for a victim with inflamed, red eyes and snapping jaws. The riffs veer between the taut, angular instrumental passages that reference Emperor and Satyricon and a darker, more sanguine attack that sees the band flailing at their instruments with real venom. Conviction is something that you could never question in iugulatus but even so, the sense of purpose here is formidable and you’re reminded once again just how good iugulatus are. As an opener it is about as subtle as an American military assault and having left the listener stunned and blinded, the band move on to ‘Chaos invocation’, a cleverly contrived piece that moves from a doom-laden intro to furious, dimmu borgir-esque blur of speed, sweat and leather in a matter of moments. It is strident, enigmatic and brutal, the band’s steely assault tightly disciplined and rendered in chrome-plated clarity with a mix that is set to stun and bewilder, each instrument sounding far more clear and powerful than on your average black metal release. There is no compromise here – the music is as hard-edged as ever, and tipped with venom, rather the band have found a way to deliver their violent aural assault with maximum impact. The first of the album’s lengthier tracks, ‘beware the flame of Unun’ is a ten minute plus exercise in furious intensity, the band engaging in complex time changes and mindboggling displays of musicianship that suggest a shift towards the progressive territories of Blut Aus Nord and Emperor’s final release, ‘Prometheus’, the devilishly deep bass tones and ever-shifting guitar work constructed more like a classicalo symphony than a piece of contemporary music. It is a mind-blowing centre-piece of the album and proof positive that iugulatus are one of the finest black metal bands Poland currently has to offer, and that’s up against some stiff competition.
‘Black song of necromancy’ sees a return to simpler pastures, the band seeking only to pummel the listener into submission with a percussive assault that blows through the room like the foul stench of a recently opened sewer main. Oppressively heavy and delivered like a chemical agent, this is furious black metal at its most straight forward and imperiously devastating. The grand finale, however, knocks it into the shade. ‘Demons lust’ is a fourteen minute long exercise in icy cold riffing, progressive menace and satanic pride. It is a blisteringly potent ending to an album that does not miss a single opportunity to confound the listener with a shift in tempo or atmosphere whilst maintaining a resolutely oppressive weight that threatens to crush the listener’s hope under the heel of a black, hobnailed boot.
Six tracks, forty minutes and not one of them wasted, ‘Satanic pride’ is an improvement on the band’s ambitious debut in almost every way. The production is devastating; the songs powerful and carefully constructed beasts that offer plenty of variation even whilst scorching the skin from the listener’s bones. Iugulatus are a dark treasure, a potent force of nature, unstoppable, unreachable and utterly immune to pleas of humanity. This is a brilliantly dark ride through black metal’s frost-covered forests and well worth tracking down.
