The debut album from FLAGG is here, promising total Black Metal destruction from this new entity. Set for release via Purity Through Fire on June 8th.
Ritualistic guitars and crashing cymbals begin the onslaught with a feral nature to the approach, which while ambient and melodic is utterly savage from the onset. Rampaging blastbeats, maniacal vocals and barbaric riffs drive forth an impenetrable and punishing array of Black Metal decimation, obliterating all that is holy. This is not just some run of the mill Black Metal, this is truly devastating music of monolithic proportions. With some parts reminiscent of Beherit in their heyday, you can be assured that Flagg are unrelenting, visceral and abrasive in all the best ways.
Amidst the cascade of vicious riffs and blastbeats, there is a fantastic clarity to the bass which gives a thicker sound, while the trebly rawness still feels cold and isolated. This monstrous approach to the sound and the wonderfully depraved songwriting meets to make ferocious instrumental sections accompanied by hauntingly bleak yet brutally aggressive vocals. Truly an impeccable and perfectly balanced sound packed with atmosphere and chaotic assaults in equal measure. Pounding, hammering and spewing with darkness, there is no denying that this is unhinged and as fierce as one could hope for.
With the volatile feel of 90s Scandinavian Black Metal mixed into a more bestial approach, Flagg do not waste a second of this record doing anything but offering total oblivion. If you prefer your Black Metal to sound pretty or polished, then stay away as these guys are utter maniacs who do not associate with anything but barbaric and blasphemous musical excellence. Total annihilation can certainly be found on this album that in caustic yet listenable ways conjures a unique spirit to Black Metal that is morbidly memorable.
Not only is this debut album an astonishing and punishing opus of Black Metal brilliance, it feels like a new danger being introduced to the scene. Depraved and bold, glistening with disdain, Flagg have created something hideous and disfiguring to rupture any notion of Black Metal becoming predictable. For this I commend the album. A twisted and magnificently dark affair that is not to be missed by fans of contemporary yet traditional Black Metal in its fiercest form. -8.5/10
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