DEMONOMANTIC – THROUGH THE PATH OF HIS MAJESTY LP (Final Agony Records)

‘Through The Path Of His Majesty’ is one of two albums released by Demonomantic in 2017, hot on the heels of debut full-length, ‘Grail Of Deformed Evilness’. Finally, it has surfaced on vinyl. As has become the Demonomantic way, there are ten effectively-untitled tracks, listed and distinguished from one another using Roman numerals, I-X. So I have no idea what the songs are about, although they sound suitably evil and uncompromising.

The album begins and ends with ominous ambient offerings and there is a third one lurking at the start of Side B. Elsewhere on ‘Through The Path Of His Majesty’ we have seven slabs of smoking, depraved and corrupted Black / Death Metal. Swartadauþuz and Likpredikaren channel some serious darkness – far removed from the more melodic tone of any of their other acts I’m familiar with.

The dull and murky production affords the music a cavernous and organic quality, the album as a whole sounding like a twisted Satanic ceremony, with the smell of incense and sacrifice hanging in the stale air. Coffin-lid drums, ghastly vocals, hellish guitars – often soaring with menace, blaring with urgency … it’s the sonic embodiment of necromancy. Death and deviancy are here.

Demonomantic is very much an outlier in the prolific Ancient Records / Mysticism movement. Probably also my favourite of all Swartadauþuz’s bands as it captures the true essence of the grimiest underground. ‘Through The Path Of His Majesty’ is raw, rotten, unrehearsed and ridiculously good.

Evilometer: 666/666