Holy smoke, the brutally bombastic battering ram of black metal has just entered the building. And it’s not likely that it’s just here for the meet-and-greet. There is something distinctly wonderful about pushing the extremities of the extreme as far as possible and then allowing them to snap back and plant their gritty fists right in your face – and that is exactly what Colombian Armageddonites Horncrowned have done here on their fifth full-length album.
A colossal record in all ways, the barbarism of this particular brand of black metal is as aggressive as it is absorbingly expressive. Biting guitars layered with clarity sail forth on a bedrock of what is, without doubt, an exceptional drum assault. The incessant gnawing begins right at the start with the title track opener and refuses to give one second of kindness away through a storm of gargantuan proportions – in particular the glistening teeth of Incendium (Great Tribulation) and the downright apocalyptic violence of Die Judicii (Appalling Abomination).
And then there is the cover – a fantastical piece of commissioned gothic art bound in detail that will keep you going for a full cup of coffee. In short, this will not, shall not and cannot disappoint. Breathe in, stomach tight – this one is going to skin your alive.
9/10
https://horncrowned.bandcamp.com/album/rex-exterminii-the-hand-of-the-opposer-2