Band: Insidious Omen
Title: Anointed With The Blood Of Chaos
Label: Hells Headbangers Records / Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions
Distribution: Hells Headbangers Records / Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions
Release date: March 7th 2011
Review: EP

Insidious Omen are a Canadian duo, with Bzath (also known from his solo-project Malkira) and Ishkingghoul. In 2006 they released the full length Upon This Throne Of Waste And Decay (self-release), followed in 2008 by the tape-release of To Cast The Last Shadow through Tour De Garde. Soon the duo started recording new material, which got released on tape again, now through Morbid Count Prod., in 2009, entitled Anointed With The Blood Of Chaos. This material will now be available on vinyl (and CD?).

Anointed With The Blood Of Chaos consists of three long hymns (between eight and ten minutes, with a total running time of almost half an hour). Opening track Serpent’s Gate … starts with an ominous intro, but after this oppressive start, it gets even more oppressive. Insidious Omen stands for no-nonsense and straight-forward Black Metal of the Old School, nihilistic, primitive and pure. No, there’s nothing unique. This kind of material has been created before. As a matter of fact, this kind of Deep Ritual Essence formed the basic of (the second wave of) Black Metal twenty years ago. But in case you’re addicted…
The rather monotonous riffs, the balance between doomish and blasting parts, the funereal passages, the abyssal screams, the raw, unpolished sound (sometimes too under-produced, unfortunately, which is my sole negative remark, by the way), it is what Xasthur, Leviathan, (early) Darkthrone, Taake or Judas Iscariot do or did, it’s what makes this genre oh so attractive!
Feasting At The Trough Of Lies and Through Stone And Steal The Flesh Speaks Deceit are comparable to Serpent’s Gate …, combining blasting fury and oppressive doom with the most vicious vision of both Chaos and balance.

Again: nothing renewing, yet if you like it the raw, primitive way…

87/100

Ivan Tibos.