While there are certainly exceptions to the rule, a good chunk of South American back metal is still rooted in the Hellhammer/early Sepultura/Sarcófago tradition. As a result, a lot of the current practitioners of the black arts sound a bit like they’re refugees from an earlier time. A lack of evolution in sound, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the music sounds stagnant. In fact, in a way it’s nice to have a punker, thrashier alternative to the myriad bands who were influenced by the Scandinavian scene.
Santiago, Chile’s Invocation Spells is one of the better of the current crop of South American bands, and their third full-length The Flame of Hate is a rippingly good little album chock full of punkish riffs and sneering attitude. The record is pretty much full-on adrenaline from start to finish, but members Witchfucker and Obsessor throw enough variety into the songwriting to keep the tracks from sounding too much alike. On opener “Darkness Prevails,” for example, they alternate a more traditional tremolo-and-blast section with a more syncopated, stuttering riff with some very cool results. Elsewhere, the main riff on “Nocturnal Silence” almost has a Misfits feel to it, and “Messiah” sounds a bit like Kill ‘em All-era Metallica crossed with Motörhead. They save the best for last, though, with the rowdy black-and-roll of “Renegade of the Light.”
In the end, Invocation Spells really aren’t doing anything most black metal fans haven’t heard before, but they do it so well that and so enthusiastically that it doesn’t really matter. Who would have thought that blasphemy could be this much fun?
The Flame of Hate will be available on July 7 via Hells Headbangers Records.
