Years ago, a former non-Decibel coworker caught wind that I was digging into the grimy corners of the blackened underground. This coworker – a Mr. Shuman – immediately targeted my mailbox for blast ‘n’ rasp overload. Data CDs loaded with entire discographies of 3rd tier blasphemers with photocopied cover art, cast-off compilations, and duplicate copies of CDs from the times that he bought music by the lot off eBay – all got shoved lovingly into the little space usually reserved for progress reports and department memos.
At the time, I couldn’t fully appreciate the wealth of material he’d presented me – and let’s be honest, most of it sounded like sun-baked shit – but I recently dug out those brittle plastic coffins again. Here I introduce you to some of that misunderstood (or not so much) grimness.
Nosvrolok hail from the United States’ Pacific Northwest, bear a name whose roots are possibly Slovenian (the internet is largely silent on the issue), and play a brand of stripped down blasphemy that – once it’s on – is hard not to appreciate. Formed in the mid-90s, their occasional releases spot the past couple decades. A couple sparse demos eventually led to this morning’s highlight, debut full-length Maledictum Parasytus, followed by a brief period of heightened activity then another lull. Earlier this year, the now-one-man project dropped a split with Forgotten Spell.
Maledictum Parasytus exists in full on YourTubes (that spelled right?) and it’s a pure caustic hate machine with cool songs, searing performances, and all the atmosphere of biting down on a table saw’s spinning blade. Push play and remember that progress is nice, but misanthropic regression hits the wintry spot just right sometimes.
