Immortal Unholy Triumph

Immortal Unholy Triumph

Nephasth

Mercenary Musik / WWIII Records, 2001

REVIEW BY: Paul Hanson

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 02/06/2002

Morbid Angel opened for Pantera when I saw Pantera about a yearago. It was the first time I saw death metal played live. TheMorbid Angel drummer was amazing, and I sat there with my jaw onthe floor. Seeing this genre performed live gave me a newperspective that I've carried for the last year, that mypreconceived notion that death metal is a bunch of talentlessmusicians that play fast in order to hide their lack of talent. Iremember how I got that impression. I listened to Dimmu Borgir,couldn't understand a word, and then read a zine that said theywere the best in the genre. I thought, "This is the best?" Goodheavens.

However, thanks to seeing Morbid Angel in concert, and being onseveral death metal label promo lists, it's getting to the pointwhere I can pick out a "good" death metal band from a stack ofdeath metal CDs that all claim they are good. I still don'tunderstand the appeal of this genre, beyond its musicianship,because the Satanic lyrics here don't interest me at all. Rather, Ilike Nephasth for its musicanship and that's it.

First of all, drummer Mauricio Weimar is one heck of a drummer,maybe the Lars Ulrich or Dave Lombardo of death metal. Fast,furious, but beyond that, he doesn't play the typical blast beat.He alternates between his hi-hat and ride cymbal within seconds,sometimes alternating measures - one measure hi-hat, one measureride. It's truly amazing drumming. The double-bass work isthundering and alternates between straight sixteenth notes andsyncopation, like on "False Pride." It's truly inspiring to listento Weimar assault his drums.

Second of all, this release actually contains guitar solos, ararity in the death metal genre. Yet, on the short 2:14 blast thatis called "Empty Holy Reaching", guitarists Rafael Barros andMarcos Moura have constructed a gem of death metal.