Belgium’s Antzaat present us with their debut release titled The Black Hand of the Father. Released September 25th through Immortal Frost Productions, this album is cold, grim and pure black metal done right. The album is straight in your face, battle ready black metal that sticks to the proven path but takes a few twists to add their own sound. The tempo stays pretty consistent but with multiple listens, you can hear moments of slowdowns that stand out and fit perfectly at these moments. The musicianship is proven in this debut release as this album is full of memorable riffs that will stick in your brain. The quartet also makes atmosphere and depth their selling points in this album. The sound is full and strong and stays consistently strong through every track.
The track Circle of Leeches stands out most in this EP as the strongest composition as well as features the most memorable riff in my opinion. There is nothing lacking within this track that you would want to hear. Now that does not mean that the whole album does not feature plenty of fleshy riffs but this track is probably the most memorable and well written. Every song features a high level of professionalism that is not so common in the black metal community but this release really stands above the rest. With that said, this album is probably one of the best black metal debut albums released this year and it is a bit sad that this is only an EP but it did it’s job making us want to keep our ears and eyes on Antzaat. This band is one of those few that I have a feeling will be a truly unforgettable black metal band in the community. Listen for yourselves to understand that this band is what this genre needs more of.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Neil Andersen
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