Artist: Nefarious Scorn
Country: Canada
Label: Narbentage Produktionen
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2024
At the waning moments of last year the German label of all things unpolished, Narbentage Produktionen, released a new demo tape from the Canadian entity called Nefarious Scorn. With only a modest discography, the duo built quite a reputation for themselves. Within the realm of Raw/Lo-Fi Black Metal the band is frequently mentioned as a reference to utterly depraved and downright impenetrable harsh Black Metal. After the release of the band’s debut album, ‘The Rogue Of Satan’, that was released in the spring months of 2024, the didn’t rest on their laurels and produced another exercise in their typical mind-bending style of Black Metal.
‘Unholy Passion – The Devil’s Purist’ is really worth your attention too. Not only because it basically has the same duration as their debut album, but mainly because it is even a step further in terms of total derangement. While none of their previously released material was quite accessible or meant for your average Black Metal fan that loves to jerk off over Erik Danielsson, this latest offering is even pushing things a step further. ‘The Rogue Of Satan’ had this ear-slicingly sharp sound that was hard to wrap your head around, it might take a good couple of spins, this time they used a more muffled approach. The result is something that is considerable less sharp, but at least equally hard to swallow. The fuzzy and dingy sound makes for a challenging listen as it doesn’t away much of its details. So, again it takes a good couple of rounds to let it fully sink in.
What did not change, however, is the band’s penchant for quirkiness. These days there is an increasing amount of acts that tend to push the boundaries of what is commonly accepted within the traditional confines of Black Metal. But even if we look beyond the last couple of years there were bands exploring the same sort of unconventional territories. If you’d strip the music of its cosmetical guise, whether it is a piercing razor-sharp sound or a more oppressing demo production, you’d come down to something that mostly feels like a drug-infused improvised jam-session between Woods Of Infinity, Silencer and the most demented and obscure parts of the Les Légions Noires like Brenoritvrezorkre or Vagézaryavtre.
Perhaps not quite surprising that Nefarious Scorn is the joint brainchild of the guitarist in Pillagery and ‘Outer Space Woman’ from the equally challenging Starcave Nebula, here operating under the name Tormented Victimizer – another fitting moniker. People who have been able to dig into the world of Starcave Nebula and haven’t tried stepping into this one should definitely consider doing so: I think you will also be able to tame this dragon.
