THOUGH the message and direction is valid, metal bands under the Red and Anarchist black metal (RABM) subgenre are typically boring to listen to. Though they stand in opposition politically and morally to bands from the National Socialist black metal (NSBM) circle —who are often fascists or neo-Nazis, the RABM circle is, unfortunately, almost entirely occupied by bands that are not able to write decent metal music.
Once in a blue moon, something actually good will manage to crawl out of this particular metal scene and earlier this month, Amsterdam-based Marrow of Man did exactly that. Releasing a split album with Nightmare Effigy from the US, the one-man Dutch band’s four songs on Decimation of the Spirit is a searing left-wing assault on the occupiers of Palestine.
Now completely embracing the RABM spirit, behind the veil of the corpsepaint makeup, Marrow of Man’s Sahand Mozdbar kicks his side of the split off with the explosive Empire of Genocide.
“Long shadows are cast / By the arm of an empire so inhumane / Over the lands that gave birth to Christ / And are now bombed to be resettled by the colonial forces,” Mozdbar howls over his signature style of guitar riffs and beating drums.
The other three songs from Marrow of Man’s half of the split, Beneath the Olive Trees, Black and White and In the Name of Liberty, continues the barrage against the imperialism, colonialism and genocide faced by trapped Palestinians.
For the remainder of Decimation of the Spirit, Nightmare Effigy takes the reins with five songs. Rather than continuing with Marrow of Man’s pro-Palestinian approach, the one-man project takes black metal back to its cold, traditional roots, evoking riffs and melodies similar to the infamous bands that began the second-wave of black metal in the 80s.
Decimation of the Spirit’s second half is slightly weaker than its first half, but it is a good introduction for Nightmare Effigy via being on the same split album as the more established Marrow of Man. Rather than merely being a strong follow-up to the band’s debut album last year, Marrow of Man’s side of the split is also Mozdbar’s excellent entry into RABM, elevating an otherwise floundering scene.
Decimation of the Spirit is available on streaming platforms.
