Principality of Hell - Sulfur & Bane [Osmose Productions - 2016]Principality of Hell are a Greek Black Metal band steeped in the history of this most difficult of genres. The band features 3 members, The Magus on vocals and bass, like many great black metal legends before him. Malestrom on drums and El on guitars. The project was born from the collective members need to interact with the dark roots of the genre. The influence of the real heavy weights of the genre can be felt throughout. Not just Bathory, Dark Throne, Immortal, Emperor and Satyricon but the bands whose influence spawned them so Kreator, Sodom, Celtic Frost, Venom etc. Both the songwriting and quality of musicianship is of a very high standard and must be applauded. It is very easy to try to replicate the classics but to be able to do it and sound fresh and exciting at the same time is a very difficult task, Principality of Hell manage to do just that. Opening track, A Prayer is exactly what it says it is, a prayer to those gods of Northern darkness. It works well as an album opener, and prepares the listener for the onslaught to follow. The first track proper is called Blood Moon Rising. This is a great way to get the album underway. A venomous slice of Bathory and Darkthrone infested old School Black Metal. I am instantly impressed by the band’s attention to detail, the production is good, the playing is tight and the vocals sound like they belong in 1989. The Magus, vocal style owes more to personal favourites like Quorthon and Fenriz than it does to most modern Black Metal vocalists, but this is not mere pastiche as the quality and belief in this style of Black Metal feels particularly genuine.
The next track Sons of the Desert is fantastic, and exhibits one of the best Black Metal riffs I’ve heard in many a year. With each subsequent listen this just seems to grow ever more impressive. It features elements of vintage Immortal or Satyricon in their prime, mixed Hellhammer style riffing. Great praise indeed if you ask me.
The Invisible Empire is up next and there is fortunately no slide into modernity, they continue to sound like a band from that first or second wave of Black Metal, and do I detect more than a little Celtic Frost in those riffs? Title track, Sulphur and Bane picks the pace up again for the full on Black Metal effect. This is another very strong track on what is turning into a bit of classic for me.
The Black Ram immediately draws comparison to Possessed for me and the longer I listen to this album the more influence I can hear from the darker side of 1980s thrash and early death metal. Specifically bands like the aforementioned Possessed as well as Kreator, Venom, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Bathory, Slayer and Sodom to name just a few. Final track, The Marble Witch is the perfect combination of The Possessed and early Celtic Frost riffs. A great way to finish any album.
Never afraid of admitting their roots they have obviously had some serious fun recording half a dozen cover versions as bonus tracks. Slayer’s Black Magic, Razor’s Evil invaders, Sodom’s Blasphemer, Bathory’s Sacrifice, Celtic Frost’s Dawn of Meggido and of course Venom’s In League with Satan really hammer home just who their influences are, as if their own material didn’t. It is however, their own material that I am mainly concerned with.
Overall I love this, it is everything I love about Black Metal condensed into one album. They use the rich heritage of the bands who influenced the first true Black Metal bands of the late 80s and early 90s as well as those bands themselves to produce something that feels steeped in Black Metal’s dark and most productive phase. Well done to Principality of Hell on creating one of the best modern, classic Black Metal albums   Darren Charles
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