Rage Nucleaire – Black Storm of Violence (Season of Mist)
Sunday, 27th July 2014
Talk about being direct! Black Storm of Violence opens with a sample of “Most of all, fuck you,” which for the most part implies the rest of what’s to come. Pissed off and frantic as it comes, Rage Nucleaire’s sophomore effort is certainly full of the rage namesake. Notably featuring the infamous vocalist Lord Worm (ex-Cryptopsy) and Fred Widigs (Marduk), this is a band that knows all about fury.
The best way to describe Black Storm of Violence is unrelenting. This is black metal with a grind mentality, in the sense that it is a beginning to end all-out assault on your ears. This is not a band that particularly embraces outright melody (though there is some experimentation with this on “Goddess of Filth”) or slowing down. Coming across as a cross between Marduk and Anaal Nathrakh, you can see the kind of picture Rage Nucleaire is painting here. Scathing riffs and Lord Worm’s usual psychotic screams fester and pollute the atmosphere. Nothing short of death, dismay, and chaos is to be found here and is sure to be the album your neighbor calls you out on for being completely insane. Another bright spot here is that despite the frenzied song structure, kudos for the band for dropping the “usual raw black metal” production aesthetic and giving in to something that is a bit clearer and gives them the edge over some of the Fisher-Price recorder quality some bands strive for.
Unfortunately, for the adrenaline rush that it may be, the sacrifices to procure that label make Black Storm of Violence seem a bit one-note. Granted, it does a very, very good job at what it is meant to do, but it is questionable how many times you’ll listen to this one before you move onto the next rampage. But if completely balls-out black metal is what you want, Black Storm of Violence brings it in spades.
