INQUISITION — Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan (review)

INQUISITION — Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan album cover Album · 2002 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
On this second album, Inquisition play harsh, raw black metal that reminds me of a slightly thrashier version of early Satyricon. Lyrically focused on unsubtle Satan-worship a la Venom, the main attraction here is Dagon's unrelenting guitar work, though I'd also single out his unusual vocal style as a particular highlight too, with some songs intoned in spooky clean vocals as opposed to the harsh screaming usually associated with black metal.

In a weird move, the Outro is an Iron Guard (WWII-era Romanian fascist movement) marching song, though it's a bizarre one whose lyrics don't actually present any overt (or even any detectable covert) antisemitic notions and instead read more like a Communist anthem. It gets even weirder when you consider that the Iron Guard were by far the most overtly Christian of the major European fascist movements, which puts their values directly at odds with those espoused in the lyrics of the rest of the album (though it should be noted that the lyrics to Kill With Hate specifically single out Jews as well as Christians for killing).

Does this mean that Inquisition are NSBM? Not in the explicit sense of promoting that ideology in their lyrics; I can't find any example in their lyrics here or elsewhere where they attack Judaism except in the context of a more general rejection and condemnation of the Abrahamic religions, and for a Satanic NSBM band to use an Iron Guard song would involve nigh-Spinal Tap levels of ignorance.

On the other hand, the band have been involved with some stupid stunts like posing with a Swastika flag in the past (along with making some inflammatory statements in early interviews) and getting "Antichrist" Kramer, a big supporter of the NSBM, to do the artwork for this and other albums. On the whole I am inclined to view them in the same light as Burzum, in the sense that their personal views are toxic to but they seem to keep these views out of their music for the most part. Then there was the whole child sex abuse image situation which bandleader Dagon plead guilty to...

That being said, I will base my star rating on their music solely and let individuals decide whether or not they actually want to pay money for this stuff. Personally, I think this is musically not too shabby, but there's absolutely no reason to go out of your way for this when there's plenty of black metal bands which sound as good at this if not better but don't have the same baggage.
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