BLACK LIGHT BRINGER — Thorns in Our Flesh (review)

BLACK LIGHT BRINGER — Thorns in Our Flesh album cover

Album · 2014 · Black Metal

3.5/5 · 2024-09-05
siLLy puPPy

La Serena, the second oldest city in Chile which hosts a metropolitan population of around 200,000 very well may be the black metal capital of all of Chile with a huge number of bands emerging from this northern coastal city. Bands like Perverse, Nergal, Doomhall, Sakrogoat, SuizidKult, Undertaker Of The Damned and Uggae Command amongst a slew of others all call this small city home. Add to that list the masterful BLACK LIGHT BRINGER that formed in 2010 and four years later released its critically acclaimed debut THORNS IN THE FLESH which delivered a thunderous display of competent second wave black metal that featured nine tracks with a near 40-minute playing time.

Sounding like a very pissed off rampaging Marduk, this debut from BLACK LIGHT BRINGER only featured two credited musicians: drummer Defiler and vocalist / guitarist Regicider and like typical second wave black metal on steroids blurs the distinction of guitar and bass with a hazy cascade of buzzsaw guitar action descended into distortion hell. This is a no nonsense type of black metal album looking back to the purity of the 1990s second wave scene and untainted by any homegrown influences, synthesized atmospheric effects or folk hybridization. This is unhinged energetic black metal in its most ferocious form delivering a series of stampeding pissed off musical deliveries that feature a ferocious drumming attack and not just set to blastbeats but rather competent technically infused drumming effects.

The guitar riffing is above average as well and not just your usual power chord grunge-a-thon. Likewise the vocals are of the highest caliber of raspy beneath-the-din extravagance making this some of the most frenetically delivered black metal that offers a sinister thrash metal infused style of competence without sacrificing any characteristic of the classic black metal purity. Comparisons range from Marduk to Immortal and Taake to the more competent technical prowess of the Swedish giants Dissection. While a bit on the generic side of the black metal equation without offering any significant contributions to the classic sounds laid down in the early Norwegian church burning days, BLACK LIGHT BRINGER nevertheless offers an extremely competent performance and one of the best black metal bands i’ve experienced from all of South America at this point.

Virtually unknown outside of its Chilean homeland, nevertheless BLACK LIGHT BRINGER delivers its lyrics in the English language with the aim of capturing some international intention but given that the competition is fierce with the entire world competing and the more competent bands latching onto this same exact sound, it’s unlikely the band will succeed in doing so unless it finds some unique shtick to distinguish itself. While falling silent for almost a decade the band finally released a followup EP in the form of “Among Us” in 2023. For those who can’t get enough of the most energetic second wave black metal that sounds like it came straight from the vaults of 1993 then you can’t go wrong with BLACK LIGHT BRINGER as the musicianship is off the charts phenomenal but if you seek some sort of creative distinction then you are SOL as this band is about as generic as it gets in that department. A worthy exploration of the greater black metal universe but not exactly the cream of the crop either.