By: John Slaymaker
Album Type:
Full Length
Date Released:
11/09/2012
Label:
Relapse Records
There is a lot of crusty doom bands around at the moment but I
see Hooded Menace as leaders in this field, with three full lengths and umpteen
split EP’s and they show no signs of running out of ideas.
‘Effigies of Evil’
CD//DD//LP track Listing
1)
Vortex Macabre (10:44)
2)
Effigies Of Evil (5:36)
3)
In The Dead We Dwell( 7:50)
4)
Curses Scribed In Gore (6:14)
5)
Crumbling Insanity (6:32)
6)
Summoned Into Euphoric Madness (5:42)
7)
Evoken Vulgarity (6:48)
8)
Retribution in Eternity (1:45)
Hooded Menace is:
Lasse
Pyykko | guitars bass and vocals
Pekka
Koskelo | drums
Teemu
Hannonen | guitars
The Review
We
start off with ‘Vortex Macabre’ and immediately
I am meat hooked, hung upside down to drain out, then I am dragged
outside through the woods (possibly to tenderise) by a beastly riff that
grinds and chews its way through the heath land. Slow of pace, heavy as sin and
writhing and grinding, Hooded Menace always have reminded me of the
most brutally catchy moments that Sweden’s Dismember ever did. The vocals are gruff
and demonic and perfect for this kind of death metal, doomed sludge. Fucking
great.
Title
track ‘Effigies Of Evil’ comes
round slow and bitchin', really nice deep drum sounds especially when Pekka
rolls them. I defy you to not nod your head along to any of these tracks on ‘Effigies’. The two guitars take it in
turns to wow you with their heavy hooks.
Definitely my favourite intro sample in a long time ‘In The Dead We Dwell’ has David Warbeck
as Anton addressing
a frightened crowd on how to kill vampires, in the hammer classic Twins Of Evil, yes indeed I got
caught reciting this aloud in Tesco’s yesterday!. ‘Curses
Scribed In Gore’ is another highlight song with deep throat
vocals and the duelling guitars again blow me away with so many leads and
licks, whilst stomping drums pummel through depicting total bloody evil.
Vincent Price introduces us to ‘Crumbling
Insanity’ and I find it hard to decide my favourite
track on this album, they are all equally good as there is definitely no
fillers here.
There
is a lot of crusty doom bands around at the moment but I see Hooded Menace
as leaders in this field, with three full lengths and umpteen split EP’s and
they show no signs of running out of ideas. ‘Summoned Into Euphoric Madness’ has that fantastic hook
of an intro that the band manage to come up with every time, you really need to
hear this album to believe what they are capable of. ‘Evoken Vulgarity’ opens
up with more epic death riffs only to wind down slowly for the last minute as
broken glass shatters on the chapel floor leaving you breathless and
vulnerable. And that leaves us with 1:45 of ‘Retribution in eternity’ as an Outro for those
of us damned. This is proper horror.
