Artist: Babylonian War Chant
Country: USA
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital
Year: 2026
This monochromatic cover with the large logo is quite a departure from Babylonian War Chant’s earlier output. All previous releases featured a cover depicting Assyrian, Mesopotamian or Babylonian engravings or scenes, so it is quite an understatement that this is a remarkable turn of events. Although the reasons are unknown to me, I am quite sure Amulon Annunaki, the only person behind this Phoenix, Arizona (USA) basedRaw Black Metal band, has had his reasons. But, if you liked the band’s previous output, there is no reason this newest full-length album would not please you the same way.
Well, if you are not averse to an even further deepening of Babylonian War Chant’s abrasive core sound, that is. Compared to the previous EP, last year’s ‘The Spirit Of The Ancient Warrior’, this 50-minute full-length record is definitely up a notch in grittiness and overall inaccessibility. The even more lo-fi, or non-existent production makes ‘Chaldean Witchcraft’ quite a tough one to swallow. Even by this project’s own standards, given that none of the three previously released EPs or the debut album can exactly be described as accessible Black Metal. So, in a way, the minimalistic cover art kind of suits this latest offering like a glove.
The repetitive patterns with the very thin guitar sound in combination with the drum computer make Babylonian War Chant one of the harshest Raw Black Metal bands out of the current North American Black Metal scene. In a way, you can best describe the sound of this rather unique project as a crossbreed between Akitsa/Bone Awl/Ildjarn and early Beherit. Although not really chaotic in nature, it is the low, morbid hissing vocals and the haunting atmosphere that kind of relates to what the Finns did on their classic ‘Drawing Down The Moon’-album. The Akitsa/Bone Awl/Ildjarn resemblance might be easier to settle with, as the single-note riffs and the overall bareboned kind of Black Metal is impossible to miss.
If you feel brave enough and totally up to the task, ‘Chaldean Witchcraft’ is an intense but rewarding listen. It took me several spins to fully wrap my head around, and it surely is a record that has the potential to make your stomach churn. Again, Babylonian War Chant delivers their idiosyncratic non-music that is food for boneheads.
