Teratism     

La Bas

Negativity Records 2013

U.S. Black metal cult, Teratism, are fomenting hatred and violence with their new 4-song EP, La Bas which features three new songs and a cover of Black Widow's Come To The Sabbat.  Teratism's style is comprised of cold, destructive blasts and disharmonic riffs that bear a resemblance to the style perfected by Mayhem on their De Mysteriis album.  To punctuate this point, Gospel of the Heliophobe gets the metallic communion underway with its intense pacing and frigid riffs.  During the calm passages you will immediately notice the anti-harmonic accents to the guitars and the Mayhem-esque drum rolls.  Wrath's vocals are the true definition of demonic as the sound as if they are warped by hellish entities.  I feel elements of cold, calculated black metal, similar to artists like Antaeus, lurking in the shadows here as well.  The layered maniacal laughter that closes out the song is symbolic of the infernal legions that color the artistic output of Teratism.  The next track, Thy Swill Be Dung, sweeps forward at midtempo and the buzzing guitars are aided by more of those noticeable drum rolls which really add a sinister accent to the soundscape.  The rhythm of the song slowly slithers in a hypnotic, circular pattern.  The final original song, Shadows Flee The Burning Sons Of Light utilizes a really minimalist main riffs that just hurtles straight forward with a intolerant vocals and a sweeping near-melodic section that drifts in periodically.  The final third of the song is a trudge through abyssic vistas.  The Black Widow cover is nearly unrecognizable as it is has been compressed and made denser, darker and waaaay more malicious. The chorus maintains its clarity though Wrath's vocals are intense and inhospitable as he screeches "come to the Sabbat, Satan's there!"  Las Bas, though short at 23 minutes in length, is a banner of black metal, a bane against the cowards of the white light.