September 30, 2014

Hessian - Mánégarmr

Written by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.


With an EP and a pair of splits with Amenra and Pale Creation to their name, Mánégarmr is the first full-length from Belgium's Hessian. The album is named after a wolf that, in Norwegian legend, devours the sun at the end of each day (known as Sköll, in Norse mythology). Members of art collective Church of Ra, and featuring members from Amenra and the Black Heart Rebellion, it's no surprise that this record is deep, strange and apocalyptic. A thick, crusty punk sound is mixed with heavy, metallic elements, leading to a darker emotional register and a fat, textured tone.

Photos by Webzine Chuul.

Tracks like "Plague Monger" go for a more straightforward kind of hardcore violence, whereas "Serpent's Whisper" and "Swallowing Nails" have a blackened cast and a more complex, sophisticated aggression. "Father of Green" and "Mother of Light" are the strongest songs here, and most frightening by far, incorporating towering doom and thick, lugubrious sludge with in-your-face hardcore to create a calamitous din that will leave you declaring, "the end is nigh."


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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