{"id":18972,"date":"2014-04-22T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=18972"},"modified":"2014-06-10T23:10:57","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T23:10:57","slug":"album-review-a-hill-to-die-upon-holy-despair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-a-hill-to-die-upon-holy-despair\/","title":{"rendered":"A HILL TO DIE UPON – Holy Despair (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

A HILL TO DIE UPON
Holy Despair<\/strong><\/span>
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\nBombworks (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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It may interest some to know that A Hill To Die Upon are a Christian extreme metal band, although that shouldn\u2019t be relevant, especially once one has experienced the second album from this American black \/ death metal band.<\/p>\n

Now, these guys formed in 2004 when brothers Michael and Adam Cook put their heads together, and five years later they released their epic debut platter, Infinite Titanic Immortal<\/em>. In 2011 they followed this up with the less impressive Omens<\/em>, and now we have the third instalment; the crushing menace of Holy Despair<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t matter what your beliefs are, because when the music is this good A Hill To Die Upon deserve to be in your collection, especially if you are a fan of weighty, fleshy black metal with a death metal slant. The reason the Illinois-based band are such a titan is down to the ashen vocal rasps and doom-laden guitar sound, which is supplemented by the heavy percussion. As a force, these guys rely heavily on their slower passages and clever, evocative lyrics which always seem to tell a vast story.<\/p>\n

Those of you expecting rather generic black metal lyrics may find some real intrigue and learn something in the likes of the complex \u2018A Jester Arrayed In Burning Gold\u2019, which reads like some vast ancient scripture: \u201cShare not the cup I have wantonly sipped, the cradle that has been finally tipped. In fool\u2019s garb do I before thee appear, with signs and sounds fit for stirring fear. Yet the mask hides what is truly between, my emerald eyes and the jewels that are seen\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Musically, A Hill To Die Upon is still quality black metal. A track such as \u2018Let The Ravens Have My Eyes\u2019 features those familiar cutting riffs and frenetic drums one would associate with, say, Poland\u2019s Behemoth, but there\u2019s so much to this record which is comfortable jarring the senses as it is rattling the bones with thrashier sections.<\/p>\n

The aforementioned \u2018A Jester Arrayed In Burning Gold\u2019 arrogantly stomps all over the competition with a stark warning of thunderous, chugging drums and sprawling guitar sound, while \u2018Nekyia\u2019 simmers and yet in one quick gesture swipes away Behemoth as if they were mere forms of dust.<\/p>\n

Slow, ponderous and ominous, \u2018Nekyia\u2019 \u2013 as with every other track on this ten-track album \u2013 is such a pounding march of Christian belief and defiance in the face of adversity that one cannot but dive headlong into these songs and become enriched by them lyrically and musically. \u201cSlouching towards Bethlehem to be born, the new birth beats on the walls of the womb of the world. Crawling fourth on four, the earth is torn by claws, and two thousand year old horns\u201d<\/em>, is the words of \u2018Nekyia\u2019 upon the strain of pallid guitars. Meanwhile, \u2018Satan Speaks\u2019 \u2013 based on the C.S. Lewis poem of the same name \u2013 rises like some vast beacon of light smothering the blackness with the masterful closing couplet of \u201cI am Satan, accuser accursed. Heed not my words, I was not first\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Holy Despair<\/em> offers so much depth and intelligence that a majority of black metal bands in their unholy ignorance should take heed, because A Hill To Die Upon may not be the anti-Gods you\u2019ve had rammed down your throats for decades, but as black metal musicians they are the new messiahs on the block.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A HILL TO DIE UPONHoly Despair Bombworks (2014)Rating: 8.5\/10 It may interest some to know that A Hill To Die Upon are a Christian extreme metal band, although that shouldn\u2019t be relevant, especially once one has experienced the second album from this American black \/ death metal band. Now, these guys formed in 2004 when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-hill-to-die-upon","category-album-ep-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18972"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18980,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18972\/revisions\/18980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}