ATMAN
L'Assassi de Venus
(Sun & Moon)

RAISE THE RED
LANTERN
S/T
(At a Loss)

DROIDS ATTACK
Must Destroy
(Crustacean)

SOAC / TREASURE CAT
Last Day of Summer
(Underdogma)

FUNEROT
And Then You Fucking Die, Man
(Inimical)

MOHORAM ATTA / 
THOU
Degradation of Human Life

(Halo of Flies)

RITES OF THY 
DEGRINGOLADE
An Ode to Sin

(Nuclear War Now)

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I am not sure who sent me this LP. Since the folk from Nuclear War Now does not respond any of my e-mails (I am sure he is ultra busy, considering how much work his label must mean) and taking into account that An Ode to Sin came out in 2005 I was debating whether I should even give it any coverage. Then again, maybe I bought this LP at the bargain bin and I am just wasting my time giving it coverage here. But yeah, shit is pretty uncontrollable over at my headquarters, so maybe some PR dude sent me the LP not long ago and I never checked the date. On the other hand, every piece of vinyl I get will get privileged real estate in my queue. Need I say why?

I had never heard of this band. But as it is usual with Nuclear War Now releases, the LP is pretty striking. The vinyl itself is gorgeous, my copy being a picture vinyl that replicates the cover artwork on one side and on the other side has the band captured in all their monochromatic glory. But the artwork is not the first thing that struck me about this Canadian trio. The first thing that actually struck me was the band’s name. I mean, forgive my ignorance but what the fuck is Degringolade? I looked it up online and it means ‘to tumble down’, so yeah, it doesn’t sound very satanic. But with music like this it needs not to.

An Ode to Sin is the band’s third and last full-length. From what I’ve learned Rites of Thy Degringolade started as a one man project in 1997 and then evolved into a full-fledged band that unfortunately called it quits in 2006. The recording is excellent, pretty organic and roomy, as in each instrument shines on its own. And that’s the way to tackle it as the performances are stellar, pretty violent but technical at the same time. Plenty of shifts and turns, and tempos being cracked and broken down. The drummer is Paulus Kressman who actually started the band and is an absolute monster of ten arms, a blast beat addict, a king of speed, an agitated motherfucker on a mission to out play everyone else in the band. Well, Kressman does it, as his necrotic voice and his incredible skills at the stool are the best of the band.

Compared to him guitarist Wroth and bassist Malevolous are only decent players trying to keep up. The material doesn’t really suffer because of it. In fact, the difference in skills gives the material a pretty nice raw and early black metal sound, where speed reigns, cymbals glare and the songs slay.

Vinyl rules!

 

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