Artist: Unholy Black Pentagram
Country: Spain
Label: WolfKult Religion
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2026
While perhaps historically not the most active outside some stoic stalwarts keeping the banner high, one can certainly speak of quite a productive time for the Spanish extreme Metal scene. Obvious legends such as Teitanblood have been an influence far beyond the Spanish borders, but also acts like Körgull the Exterminator and Atonement have been going strong for decades while new blood in the shape of Messe de Minuit, Nagyszeben and Stygian Storm are capturing Black Metal hearts with their recordings. One of the most recent additions to the scene is Unholy Black Pentagram, and these are far from rookies. With band members gaining experience in the likes of Nigromancer, Under The Moon, Crucification, Messe De Minuit, Stygian Storm, Atonement, Harvest Of Grief, Trollcave, Nagyszeben and Körgull the Exterminator you could rightfully speak of a group of seasoned musicians that together assembled their first demo, ‘Desecrating The Altars Of Purity: Unholy Rituals For The Goatlord’.
It’s that type of experience that immediately shows here, as for a first demo, this is an incredibly mature sounding and impressive recording on which the band has very successfully captured the Black Metal of the late eighties’ and early nineties. Think of a combination of the visionary work of Samael, Hellenic band such as Varathron, Rotting Christ and Necromantia, the first two records of the Brazilians of Mystifier, and the doomier and more volatile approach of a band like Goatlord. Especially in the first few songs on the demo it’s midpaced straightforward riffs with an incredibly authentic keyboard-laden ritualistic atmosphere that teleport back to those early times. Topping if off are rather deep bellowing growls, and they fit incredibly well with the more Doom-tinged aura. While most material is centred around a slower pace, the record is not entirely devoid of faster passages. These are often cruder and remind me both of Goatlord and in a sense also of the barbarity aspect of a band like Beherit or even Archgoat.
It’s the deceptive simplicity, the uncanny atmosphere and the balance between ritualistic incantation and barbaric outbursts that make ‘Desecrating The Altars Of Purity: Unholy Rituals For The Goatlord’ a very compelling debut for Unholy Black Pentagram. This is certainly a band to watch if you love that late 80’s and early 90’s type of Occult Black Metal that was blooming outside Scandinavia.
