Band: I Shalt Become
Title: Poison
Label: Moribund Records
Distribution: Moribund Records
Release date: August 22nd 2010
Review: CD

One of USA’s most obscure and occult Black Metal protagonists certainly are I Shalt Become, but they are not an average USBM-formation. This project is as oppressing as many American underground bands, but this one brings something special.
Poison is the fourth studio recording. Wanderings, Requiem and The Pendle Witch Trials were fabulous releases (the first sometimes get labelled as cult or classic) and this haunting one continues that path.
Opener Like A Lamb To The Slaughter, like most other compositions, reminds me a lot to Nocturnal Majesty, with an atmosphere and keyboard lines in the vein of Shadowcaster. The sound is funereal and extremely chilly with a nihilistic undertone. And this song indeed sets the unholy tone for Poison. The slow incantations bring a blackish form of Doom Ambient, based on symphonic keyboard lines, sweetly poisoned by back ground (Black) Metal instrumentation and blackish vocals. Other bands that come to mind are Profanum, Valar, Skythrone, Finnugor (within the heavier pieces), even Swartalf, Summoning and Limbonic Art dwell around… The whole sounds both primitive and orchestral, both depressive-suicidal and epic, both caressing and sorrowful. This isn’t happy material, this is abyssal-deep Darkestration in its purest sense.

93/100

Ivan Tibos.