Hell United - Aura Damage (2012)

Hell United's 2008 debut HornoKracy was a total surprise for me when I first experienced it. I had never heard the band prior to that, but here was this visceral, bloodcurdling burst of black metal so fierce that it seemed to ignite your eardrums, burning you long after the music had passed. Along with several other acts in this scene, like Thunderbolt, Infernal War, Azarath or Stillborn (the last of which shares some members with this very band), there was this relentless punishment inherent in that album which embraced both its accelerated, flesh shearing outbreaks and slower, crushing sequences, and I've found myself going back to it numerous times in ensuing years when in a fix for unadulterated aggression, though I regret that I missed out on the band's intermittent EPs.

With Aura Damage, Hell United retain a lot of the core characteristics of the debut, but they've fleshed them out into a more prominent death metal aesthetic. Blasting and intense tremolo riff patterns are still prevalent in the composition, but there's this more charnel, grinding edge to the guitar tone that feels like they're rapidly tilling graveyard dirt and all the festered scraps of flesh buried within. The vocals here skew a bit more towards a guttural timbre than a rasp (though both styles have manifest on both albums). The riffs seem to run the gamut from a unswerving old school death hostility ("Apostle of Plague") to a convocation of gnarled, blackened thrash guitars as in "Aura Damage" itself which twist into sporadic bursts of lead or unnerving melodies that seem to shiver up the listener's spine. Like the latest Stillborn record, you get this constant hint of atonality, a slight stream of dissonance bled along the axis of the meatier guitar rhythms. Aura Damage is as fresh as a ripe corpse, its bones not yet stale beneath the earth; where HornoKracy had a more airy atmosphere about it due in part to the vocals.

Still, though this is an evolution, it's not such a huge departure as 1349's Revelation of the Black Flame, or Emptiness's Error, two albums that abandoned a more complex and structured extreme metal sound for a more atmospheric, but less appealing direction/aesthetic. Aura Damage is first and foremost brutal. Simpler atmospheric tints, like the intro to "Hinterland" or the drudging pacing of closer "Totality of I" always seem to go somewhere more important. In terms of the riffing involved, I believe I retain a slight preference for the first album's feral ferocity, but this is unquestionably a darker and moodier outlet which functions on several levels, both in its unbridled, churning force and ability to leave haunting scars upon the listener through eerier, sparse strikes on the higher strings. Never extremely catchy, but solid and dynamic, the 35 minute run time ensuring that there is no room for a listener to become bored. Despite the slight transformation in technique, Hell United still takes no prisoners, and Aura Damage still represents unsafe, volatile expression.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.hellunited.com/

Hell United - HornoKracy (2008)

Formerly known as Eclypse, this Polish black/death cult has achieved a level of high intensity under their new nomenclature. With a sound somewhere between 1349 and modern Behemoth, you know you are in for a complete unholy racket. Fortunate these gentlemen write intriguing enough songs that this is a headache well worth attaining.

Hostile enough to flay Christian skin straight from their bodies, the album begins with the haunting bells toll of "Eucharistik Masochism". It's a shredder with some nice riffs, and I like the subtle guitar layers over the bridge. "Lamentations of Gods" continues to amass the destruction until the body count is almost incalculable. "God Father Goat Father" is a clarion call to victory for the LEGIONS OF HELL. Because surely this is the side these guys serve on, and they surely have achieved officer status at the least. And to think I haven't even gotten to the meat yet, because "Gospel of Havoc" is just fucking sick. "In the Name of Hellfire" slows things down a little, though its still quite evil. By this point, you need a slowdown, because you have to recover. "Insatiable Thirst for Injure" picks up the pace with some vile melody and pure oldschool grinding evil riffs. "Extra Strength of the Obscure" has a more sheer, black edge. The final two tracks, "Too Pity Too Insane" and "Great Expiatory's Suicide" are likewise sinister and blacker. And in fact, I love the use of the chanting sample and the ambiance in the latter.

The musicians are what you expect from the Polish scene: well honed and brutal cutting knives of slaughter metal. The drumming is off the wall but this guy makes it seem as if it's just Tuesday or something. If Behemoth simply isn't enough for you and you want something even more destructive, the debut from Hell United is an amazing effort and you should have already whipped out the credit card. Hail Satan mother fuckers! Or something like that. Buy this. And kiss your ass goodbye.

Verdict: Epic Win (9/10)

http://www.myspace.com/hellunited