Antichrist Siege Machine - Purifying Blade (Profound Lore)

UNDILUTED FILTH ALERT!

Yep, that’s right, my year long trek through the bowels of the World’s death metal scene has brought me to Richmond, Virginia in the US and yes – pure, undiluted filth is what Antichrist Siege Machine are bringing to the table with new album Purifying Blade!

The bloke next door is currently laying a new concrete floor in his kitchen – at 10 PM, obvs – and I’m not lying when I tell you that for a brief few seconds during this album’s standout track (Too Be Sooner) Broken By Pain, the sound of his concrete mixer and hammer banging coming through our paper-thin dividing wall was in complete synchronicity with what was going on on the Stronge family stereo – they were literally in perfect phase…

As a description of the music contained withing the grooves of Purifying Blade, well, I really couldn’t improve on that. Despite being only a two piece, ASM put up a hell of a racket; the wall of sound here is real, tangible, and almost impenetrable. Occasionally, as on the band’s titular anthem, a jaunty riff or Kerry King-approved tremolo dive wails through the murk and gives some sort of definition to proceedings, but overall this really isn’t about finesse. This is all out sonic war, aural blitzkrieg if you will, and you know there can only be won winner in this sort of situation.

Of course, tracks like the sludge-filled groove of Chaos Insignia are virtually unlistenable when presented to the untrained ear, but for those of you that revel in noise-based, nihilistic shits and giggles then this record might come as something of a decibel-packed revelation. There’s no getting around it – in their chosen theatre of operations Antichrist Siege Machine are pretty much the real deal. And if the thought of D.I.Y. activities set to music sets your pulse racing as much as it does mine then you’ve got no option other than to add this to your collection…

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