Lightning Swords of Death - Baphometic Chaosium (2013)

While Baphometic Chaosium doesn't necessarily retract the limitations of its predecessors, it compensates with a superior, frightening sense of atmosphere that makes it an engaging rabbit hole to tramp down all the same; or rather, a gaping abyssal maw which might consume a listener even if the actual metal core of the band is nothing all that impressive or unique. The Golden Plague and The Extra Dimensional Wound were not bad efforts, all told, but I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed at how the beautiful, engrossing artwork led to only a banal songwriting style that did little to upstage or deviate from prepackaged Scandinavian aesthetics, with only marginal differences in the vocals and production. In short, the Lightning Swords of Death had yet to really carve out their own point of view, something one might expect their geographical location (L.A.) might afford them, so far from those Satanic fjords and forests of the Norse and Swedish forebears.

Baphometic Chaosium does just that, but at the expense of much in the way of interesting riffs coursing through this tenuous 39 minute struggle with sanity. Elements of thrash and death metal have never been alien to their sound, yet here they strafe directly between the black/death genres, with a lot of morbid tremolo picking sequences that carry the ritualistic, bleak narrative of the vocals. Speaking of which, they've done a tremendous job to incorporate a cleaner, mournful doomed chant in among the expected rasps ("Acidgate"), wretched whispers of suffering ("Chained to Decay"), and so forth. The production of the guitars and drums here is extremely fluid. Primal and punishing, but remarkably polished so that the varied ambient effects do shine through when they are summoned forth from the pervasive, opaque occult atmosphere. The blast beats sound like an assembly line of brickworkers trying to wall off the terrors of the underworld, and the bass guitar often exudes a clever groove here or there to distinguish it from the straightforwardness of the rhythm guitar. Most of all, the ambiance of the album is extremely resonant whether it's been treated with a sort of atonal, warped spatial woodwind atmosphere (in the instrumental "Cloven Shields") or being used with more subtlety through the metal tracks.

I still really wish more ingenuity was being placed into the rhythm guitar progressions, and as an example of this, you'll hear how instantly something like the wavering, vile sequence in "Psychic Waters" stands out over the guitars in several of the other tracks. The ability is there to create this dissonant, fucked up mass of writhing, seething tendrils that can match the ominous, surreal ambient elements, but generally they stick to some fairly predictable patterns that don't exactly leave an impression on the melody. Thankfully, though, the album taken as a whole is more than sufficient, and provided a more harrowing excursion than either of their earlier full-length releases. Definitely an album to recommend to those who appreciate when a band steps outside of its brutal or incendiary status quo to offer a counterbalance of eeriness and atmosphere; such as Marduk's Wormwood, Emptiness' latest (Error), or 1349's last few records (though they were not themselves successful). I still don't think the Lightning Swords of Death have hit their peak potential, but it would only take a small push further in this direction to create a truly compelling concoction. Baphometic Chaoisum is more than a stopover until that time, and I enjoyed it.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] 
 
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Lightning Swords of Death - The Golden Plague (2007)

Aesthetically, The Golden Plague is a pleasing release, both visually and aurally. A fantastic cover painting and logo married to a grim as fuck production, all the right influences in Bathory, Mayhem and Hellhammer, and raw, blood curdling vocals that spew forth the sewage of Hell without any apologies: these are the characteristics dominating the Lightning Swords of Death debut. A California act having honed its edge through a number of previous incarnations, they recorded one demo under this moniker in 2005 and then had the opportunity to release their debut through BlackMetal.com. But do not unfurl the banners of blasphemous victory quite yet; for though The Golden Plague wears the robe of barbaric, black metal vengeance well, it's entertainment value is sadly limited.

When entering a field such as black metal, which has already seen constant revision and trekked abroad though many palettes of creativity, there are two paths one will really tread. First, you might manage to combine the basic fundamentals of the genre with some abysmal, wretched tone or some sequence of riffing savagery that somehow equals or rivals the forebears. Second, you'll try something really different, keeping only a few of the core aesthetics intact. Lightning Swords of Death took the former path, with a simplistic but bombastic approach that mashes up the same inspiration from death and thrash metal that the mighty Quorthon once strode. If you could package up the first three Bathory records and then transplant them to Los Angeles with a few vitamin tabs of other influences, you would arrive at The Golden Plague.

This is not necessarily a negative, and the band certainly crank up the vicious undercurrent of the music to a level that might not have been possible in the mid 80s. The bass provides a heavily distorted marrow beneath which the drums rape and pillage, the guitars thick and caustic like viral sludge, and the vocals of the Autarch distorted and suitably disgusting. Tracks like "Shores of Twilight" and "Let This Knife Lead You To Us" who the band at their blitzkrieg best, rampant series of powerful if predictable notation that delivers at the very least a sound companion piece to a neckbreaking experiment. These tend towards a middle or slower pace, but the sluggish evil is extremely potent within the ghastly, distant mix. A few of the shorter tracks also deliver, like "Abomination in White" with its huge, nihilistic thrashing grooves. "Loathsome" is an enveloping if forgettable, ominous guitar interlude, while the epic 8 minute closer "Ghost of a Thousand Broken Blades" mixes up tortured, almost silly vocals with slower, plodding thrash rhythms and other dynamic effects.

The Golden Plague is just diabolic enough, just nasty enough to get a passing grade from me. It's not an album I will listen to very often unless I feel the masochistic need to have my ears pierced by uncircumsized, raw black venom. It's not nearly as well produced as its followup The Extra Dimensional Wound, yet I found the songwriting here on the debut subtly superior, the riffs not unfamiliar but somehow more effective and lethal due to the churning discourse. However, both albums are fairly consistent, and while I can't recommend this band to someone who prefers the more accessible or experimental side of the genre, those who seek the blood drained trenches might squeeze some value out of this, while they stare at that horrid and beautiful cover.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

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Lightning Swords of Death - The Extra Dimensional Wound (2010)

The first thing one will notice about The Extra Dimension Wound is the massive stride in production the band has taken since their debut The Golden Plague in 2007. While that was a raw and appreciable debut effort with some decent songs, I was simply not prepared for the huge tones here on the follow-up. The bass here is enormous, and the guitars brazen enough to rend open the very flesh of the Earth, to spew forth otherworldly abominations. The Lightning Swords of Death are a pretty intelligent band. They have a cool name. They use consistently good cover art. They have phenomenal song titles like "Damnation Pentastrike", "Vorticating into Scars" and "Venter of the Black Beast".

It comes as a contrast then that the band play such a brute, simplistic brand of punishing black metal. Clearly the major influence here is Bathory, and the band culls their pacing almost directly from the first four albums, in particular The Return and Under the Sign of the Black Mark. But there is also something more broadly 'Swedish' about the LA band's writing. The spacious, creepy tones they emit are resonant of the more energetic exertions of orthodox black metal bands from that nation like Ondskapt, Valkyrja, Dark Funeral, Diabolocium, and others. Lightning Swords do not try to impress with a huge slew of riffing...in fact, this is almost the stuff of the primal, fundamental elements arisen from chaos. Barbaric, prototypical death metal rhythms thrust about the interminable, downward spiraling galaxy at both fast and slower range of execution, while Autarch's throat gorges on the hopeless truths of a carnivorous cosmos, as it feeds on the flesh of all living forces.

I'm going to be blunt, though. This is an album one should listen to SOLELY for its oppressive atmosphere, because there is not a single case of a guitar riff on this entire album which I felt was written well enough that I'd want to listen to it again. The riffs feel as if they are meant to be predictable and effective, and a result, not so interesting. These are not new ideas here, but the channeling of familiar force into the skull. Thus, the blunt instrumentation of "Damnation to Pentastrike" and "Nihilistic Stench" rely upon their sum wall of force attitude as a quality rather than the individual components, which do not stand out far at all (though it would be hard to argue that this drummer is not a beast). In fact, the most musical moments on all the album are the 2:00 "Zwartgallig", which is but an ambient interlude...and the closing moments of the epic length "Paths to Chaos", in which there are some finely tuned leads, and I love that doomed bass.

The Extra Dimensional Wound has me on the fence, because unless I'm really in the mood for something mindless with a punishing tone, I have very little reason to revisit it. As a loyal and contemporary tribunal to a band like Bathory or Mayhem it's functional, loud, and oppressive, but then...it also lacks the genuine filth and the memorable songwriting those bands were able to produce 20 years ago. There exists comparable if not better black metal writing now from hundreds if not thousands of bands internationally in these days, and I just wasn't taken in with anything beyond the band's nihilistic grasp, superb tone and lurid packaging.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

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