This is the fourth album from Norwegian solo black metal act Misotheist.
Brought to us by the artist behind Diabolus, Mecum Semperterne!, Enevelde, and Kråbøl, De Pinte contains 41 minutes of violent otherworldly black metal. Misotheist carve a space into black metal’s crowded landscape that belongs purely to De Pinte. This is an album that dominates as much as it fascinates.
The style is one of arcane dissonance, yet despite its raw attack De Pinte is far from being as impenetrable as many such releases are. Whereas some would simply produce a blur of distorted hatred out if the same building blocks, Misotheist’s music displays a rare mastery of the style.
A range of moods, paces, and dynamics are unleashed across these four tracks, and each song has a voice of its own within the whole. Well-written and performed, De Pinte is the sort of album that’s instantly revelatory, yet packed with secrets and detailing that is only fully revealed to those with the patience and fortitude to explore its landscape fully.
De Pinte offers up oppressive esoteric atmosphere, crushing down on the listener like the encroaching apocalypse. Underpinning this is a relentless dark aggression. Not relentless because it’s one-dimensional and never lets up, but relentless because its presence is always felt; a constant craving for merciless horror that forces the songs ever forward, further into the maelstrom. Winding itself around this like a barbed wire embrace is a wreath of dissonant melody. This enhances both the atmosphere and the hostility of the music, while also altering both and rerouting them, giving the songs a feeling of lethal vitality and unfettered danger. Corrosive, abrasive, and utterly inhuman vocals crown this aural assault with lightless venomous growls, roars, and screams.
De Pinte is massively impressive and extremely enjoyable. Misotheist’s latest showcases an artist operating at the highest level. I find this variety of black metal to be one that can easily let the listener’s attention wander, yet this record holds it firm in an iron grip. De Pinte is a roaring, clawing, snarling success.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 