New York City stands as a hub for a wide arrangement of various musical communities and underground scenes. The black metal following, while very modest, includes a few of the most dedicated niche artists you may find. Spite is one of those blackened extreme metal projects, run by a single person, that fit the description. Founded in 2010 and based out of Brooklyn, this outfit released one EP and a split in the past...but now, the debut full-length album is upon us.
Antimoshiach is a forty-minute or so black metal effort consisting of eight tracks. Released via the Invictus Productions record label, this offering features themes related to blasphemy, anti-religion and more. In addition, Antimoshiach also sports artwork courtesy of Adam Burke, who has created designs and album covers for other metal bands such as Artifical Brain as well as Perdition Temple. All of the instrumentals, lyrics, and vocals are conducted and recorded by Salpsan, the band's one and only member.
The first thing I immediately took a liking to was the guitar riffage and tone. Right off the bat, the guitar lines go into a fast and brutal tremolo picking section and create a sort of insane atmosphere with their spontaneity. Then, all of a sudden, you have the vocals make an entrance; they are as kvlt as it gets. With the vocalist's high-pitched nostalgic shrieking, the overshadowing old school black metal production quality, and droning, yet attention-garnering riffs, you've got this album made. A lot of traditional black metal and appropriately dark, mystic as well as mysanthropic aesthetic went into this album. The artwork is also pretty interesting enough.
Many of the songs involve around only a few rotating riffs. However, their placement is fitting and their presence is so energetic that I instantly overlooked that notion. You've also got your blast beat sections, which culminate into the album's speedy feel. In all, the strongest songs for me on Antimoshiach have to be "The Shield of Abraham" for its transitioning structure and riffs in addition to "Upon Funeral Stone" for its kvlt-ness, if that makes any sense. Another worthy mention is the instrumental track "The Hope (of Coming Armageddon)" for its creativity and overall sound.
One critique to bring up is the drumming, which, to me at least, felt like the weakest part of this release. The drumming patterns are there and they keep up for the most part; however, I just felt as though they could've been done a bit better to suit the rest of the instrumentals, such as implementing a better tone or samples for them. Another criticism would be the production on the vocals themselves, which was kind of wishy-washy to me personally. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid first release.
In conclusion, Antimoshiach is a solid debut release for Spite due to its stellar guitars, formidable vocals, and overall nostalgic ambiance. It is ultimately an album filled with kvlt devastation, assorted black metal tones and astonishing riffage as well as imagery that was pretty much created for the enjoyment of the old-school crowd.
Fave Tracks: "The Shield of Abraham", "Upon Funeral Stone"
**Antimoshiach by Spite is available for physical CD pre-order at Invictus Productions and digitally on Bandcamp!**
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Review by: Dave Raffy
-Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter
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