Album Review: Surrender of Divinity - Oriental Hell Rhythmics

Surrender of Divinity [Thailand]
Oriental Hell Rhythmics
2001
Full Length
Black Metal
8.5/10

The album title says it all. Oriental - hell yeah, hailing from Thailand. Hell - needless to say, this is about as evil as it gets. Put these elements together and the result is Oriental Hell Rhythmics, a perfect blend of traditional black metal and Surrender of Divinity's unique touch, and the band's debut full length output.

Thailand: the land of smiles? Not a chance with Surrender of Divinity as they prove you wrong with 50 minutes of hell on their debut full length effort. Opening with a rumbling thunder at the background, Surrender of Divinity spares no mercy in unleashing their version of hell and chaos onto the listener. Avaejee's impossibly tortured shrieks, combined with the chaotic rhythm backing of Whathayakorn's guitars and Paritat's blasting drums, further coupled with the harsh production, shows the listener how black metal is supposed to be played and presented - dirty, primitive, chaotic and simply reeking of pure evil.

While other Asian black metal bands such as ChthoniC choose to flaunt their Asian-ness explicitly through the usage of Asian instruments such as the er-hu, Surrender of Divinity chooses the subtle path. On first listen, one might question how the "oriental" label come into play. Songs like The Darkness Against Light feature riffs with an extremely "Asian" flavour to them, a nice fusion of traditional black metal with an oriental touch, bringing together the best of both worlds. Apart from that, there are also a lot of subtle hints of traditional non-metal (and Asian) influences littered throughout the album, you just have to listen carefully for them!

Although songs tend to last up to 11 minutes (such as the opening track, Conquerors of the Apocalypse), there is never a boring moment on the album as Surrender of Divinity proudly performs their blasphemous craft and hardly wastes any time with boring fillers whatsoever on this record.

If you are a fan of bands such as Singapore's Impiety, Philippines' Deiphago or Thailand's Zygoatsis, this release is highly recommended. The Japanese re-release version by Deaththrash Armageddon also comes with two exclusive bonus tracks, the rehearsal tracks of Possessed by the Night and Eternal Life.

Be sure to catch Surrender of Divinity, along with Impiety, Draconis Infernum and Humiliation this coming January 16th at the Impiety Asian Worshippers Tour 2011!

Surrender of Divinity on the internet:
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