Antikristus

Provokator is the solo project of Hellscream; probably better know from his work in Bleeding Fist, as well as the doom project Chains. The logo retains the same aesthetic style as the latter, but the campy psychedelic overtones are totally absent: this is about as unpolished as black metal gets, with very little fun and lots of swearing and blasphemy. Think the low-fi abrasion of early Beherit, or the near-monotonous buzz of Black Witchery. Very underproduced, defiantly simplistic songwriting, and not really anything to be found that hasn’t been done literally (yes, literally) thousands of times before.

Still, there are good bits herein which do ample justice to that pretty neat cover art. Like that ghoulish creature's chainsaw, the riffs tend to have a whirring, mechanical feel to them which brings latter-day Black Funeral to mind; a project I quite like for its crude and cold inhumanity. Taken on its own terms, a song like Conqueror of Blasphemus Revenge (sic) works pretty well, with its droning riffing and the sheer lunacy of Hellscream’s gnashing vocals (probably Provocator’s main selling point). Then there is Unholy Rape of the Holy Whore, where the relentlessly linear rhythm section is eventually drowned out under a crescendo of caterwauling guitar soloing and Hellscream yelling “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” again and again and again. If that appeals, then you may enjoy Antikristus.