Promiscuity - Infernal Rock'n Roll (2011) (7,5/10)

Usually, I’m not the biggest fan of old school Thrashy Black Metal in the key of BATHORY, CELTIC FROST, VENOM and so on, but this first demo recording from a young band hailing from Israel is actually a quite diverting release and offers some solid sounds of the underground.

The recording has a crunching vibe that could come straight from a dirty basement of the late eighties and gives an appropriate atmosphere to the three short tracks. The neckbreaking riffs are dark and hold between a mid tempo and slightly sped up pace. The drumming is tight and sounds very raw but still offers a few technical skills beneath the wall of noise. The bass is pumping in a very noisy way as well and has its shining moment at the beginning of the second track. The vocals are heavily blackened and give the songs a bleak atmosphere. They vary enough to combine elements of Black and Death Metal and it’s a little bit as if early BURZUM would meet early AMORPHIS. The truly well performed and melodic guitar solos surprise well and even show some glimpses of positive energy by creating a well done contrast with the rest.

The song that probably stands out the most is the opening title track. This is due to an original introduction that gives the first true Rock ‘n Roll anthem “Rock Around The Clock” by BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS a new and weirdly twisted touch that turns into slowed down sound effects and evil laughter before the true opener breaks loose. All three songs sound rather coherent if you would like to use a positive term or repetitive if you want to use a negative term. In my opinion, this is not a bad thing after all as it gives you a solid general idea of the band and works well for this first sign of life. On an actual full length album, more sound experiments such as in the opener would though be required to keep the attention high.

Genre fans should pick this release up and might be pleased by this pure old school outbreak of evil from an exotic country. Anybody else should do as I do and wait for a possible full length release to see what this band is really able to do. These three first songs are not stunning but solid enough to keep the band’s name on my mind for a while.

(Online January 20, 2013)