Emit – “a Sword of Death For The Prince” – [Total Holocaust Records]

abacus   8/27/2013   12-inch, A Library

Challenge your mental stability with Emit’s 2005 debut of debilitating black metal noise torture out of Somerset, England. The album opens with terrifying explosions of fury and anguish before subsiding into tweaked guitar drone of feedback flagellation. Still tormented by snarling spiteful voices in the back of your head, the pain and illusion become almost too much to bear. The guitar abominations flay the skin off your back and drag down your wrist, setting a perfect backdrop for the misanthropic exhortations and sinister sermons of sorrow and suffering. Agonizing incantations that range from deranged snickering to maniacal shrieking all submerged in the sonic obliteration. Sometimes a melody peaks through, but always torn down and pissed on, nothing beautiful survives. There are moments of haunting dark ambiance, with chilling organ drones and windy sweeps, even a soothing lullaby to lurk in your nightmares amidst the bonus tracks on side D. You will find no hope hear though. There is only misery. Try not to kill yourself, but do what you must.