Mystifier
Goetia
[Osmose]


Listening to an early Mystifier album is sort of like sprinting through the darkness of a thick, condescending Brazilian jungle with a horde of cannibalistic natives on your footsteps trying to impale you with spears and use you for ritualistic tribal ceremonies. In all seriousness, I really can't even begin to describe how good this release is; while Wicca is great, Göetia is phenomenal, and for those of you who were having difficulties obtaining either one, there are no longer any real excuses because they have recently been re-issued together (with excellent packaging even). That is of course, unless you're one of those I-won't-listen-to-Blasphemy-because-they-have-a-nigger-chicken-in-the-band-so-I'm-going-to-go-grab-the-strings-of-a-heavily-overrated-and-long-deteriorated-Scandinavian-scene types, in which case your stupidity has once again destroyed your ability to recognize anything good.

As is more than often the problem, some albums are so monstrous and utterly gargantuan sounding that the limitation of words make them almost impossible to review musically, so perhaps it's easier to draw parallels with other bands. Take early Sodom (In the Sign of Evil), Sarcofago's INRI, and then add the completely pummeling and massive heaviness of Mortuary Drape - that's still not even close, but it should be enough to inspire one to at least go and listen to Göetia, and if it isn't chances are the individual in question is not worth their weight in salt. The powerful thrashing guitars and blistering drumming are often broken up by occult chanting and speech segments that beseech visions of Satanic mass, while Asmodeus (vocals here are much improved to Naosouninguem's on Wicca) spews forth archaic volumes of necromancy in a devastating atmosphere of total blackness and hatred.

"Beelzeebubth" is one of the definitive Mystifier tracks, while "Anelizabethan Devil Worshipper's Prayer Book" has a sublime spoken tone all the way through that becomes completely hypnotic. Other standouts especially include "The True Story About the Doctor Faust's Pact with Mephistopheles" and "The Baphometic Goat of Knights Templar in the 12th Century." The entire album runs about as long as the song titles, so get this immediately and become absorbed by the madness of the headhunters.


© 2002 hando