BRUTALISM

Hungary’s Nefarious has released the first full length album after being a band for eight years, but better late than never. They are labelmates of Lunar Aurora through Cold Dimensions, but they don’t rely on associations for their credibility.  The first track on this first full opus is the title track, The Universal Wrath.  After a quick few notes of ominous synth, Nefarious divides the heavens with a maelstrom of unforgiving grimness. The band is fully focused on delivering as much punishment as possible and they deliver in spades. The second track, The Chosen Ones, allows you a slight reprieve of ambient sound as Nefarious checks the bodies over the fields of the fallen from their initial blitzkrieg. But anyone found with a drop of hope to plead for mercy are sorely mistaken as the crushing rhythm sections restarts their attack along the swirling synths and razor toned guitars.

The vocals from Nefarious brings to mind the prime lo-fi black metal sound you would conjure in your head of unrepentant rasping, but there is a gravel sounding quality to it one some tracks on the album which may detract slightly. Together with the pounding cavernous drums as highlighted in False Words of Prophets, it is a resounding successful union. This album is a wonderfully detatched adn beautifully creepy album. It oozes all those things that go bump in the night and wouldn't be spotted out of the shadows.

Nefarious have put a lot of effort into The Universal Wrath and it definitely shows. There are the final four tracks on the album are a solid testament to their ability and work to make the album more than another blip on the internet. These songs will stick with you and you will grow to hear them more and more. I only hope their next release isn't three years away.