Category:
Metal

Try if you like:
Blut Aus Nord, Craft, Darkthrone

With the song “Worship (The War Against) Yourself,” Defective Epitaph solidifies its case as another brave step in black metal. Xasthur are a heavy but smart band, delivering their grim missives at the personal level. No need for Satan or Woton or Thor here; the real mud and mire of life is usually right inside your own head. Scott Conner, aka Malefic, aka Xasthur, has produced six records so far, plus a few shorter goodies. He’s also kept to himself, which adds mystery to his image and a harrowing edge to these reclusive tunes of despair and madness. “Defective Epitaph” is a brutal slab of metal, but is also so much more. It is almost, to mix genres, a “Plastic Ono Band” of black metal.

 

Using drone as often as crunching power chords, there is a woozy feel to many of these songs, especially “Malignant Prophecy” and “Dehumanizing Procession.” There is also release cello and keyboards for deeper, sadder tones.

 

Noisier moments reign on “Memorial To The Waste of Life” and “Cemetery of Shattered Masks,” but the overall feel is of a creepy missive from some dreary place that may be self-created. One gets the sense that the singer is not always alone by choice. The liner notes say that lyrics are “unavailable upon request.” Given the jolt that the music on “Defective Epitaph” provides, maybe Xasthur is doing us a favor there.