Rating: 7.1

Country: Mexico

Genre: Death Metal

Record Label: American Line

Release Date: 2007

Track list:
1. Al Azif
2. Beyond Darkness And Hell We Come
3. Crowns For The Crowns
4. Murderer Conception
5. Among Deads
6. Underworld Command Attack
7. Burial In The Void
8. When Your Candles Goes Off

Total playing time 31:47

Band Website: The Light of Dark

The Light of Dark - Beyond Darkness And Hell We Come

Eddie Monster - Vocals/Guitar
Arturo - Guitar
Minos - Drums
Dover Juan - Bass

Due to its notorious history of rampant corruption, ruthless mafia styled justice, and overall social unrest it's no wonder then that the country of Mexico has become quite the spawning ground for volatile n' viciously brutal Death Metal. Think about it, if your daily life was confined to a poverty stricken existence where a person's life is considered cheap enough to be unpleasantly reduced to nothing more than a mangled, gory spectacle for the mere delight of desensitized internet junkies everywhere then chances are you'd take all that pent up frustration and anxiety and channel it through art. Furthermore, if fellow natives Hacavitz, Ravager, Disgorge and The Chasm already didn't serve as sufficient enough proof, along comes The Light of Dark soaring triumphantly like a fiery, mythological phoenix scorching everything in its path until all is reduced to blackened, smoldering ash. To be blatantly honest here, if there's one thing that TLOD's sound does so well it's that it serves to remind this reviewer just how criminally underrated Rebaelliun's debut, Burn The Promised Land was and possibly still remains til this very day. Of course, Rebaelliun never even came close to surpassing the overall monolithic weight and magnitude of that grand achievement before the band's sudden demise over 6 years ago but TLOD's Beyond Darkness and Hell We Come certainly comes pretty damn close. In fact, so close that after a while you'd think a mysterious cloning experiment took place in a dank, acrid cavern somewhere involving goat semen, hallucigene laced plants, and enough pyrotechnics to make Hiroshima seem like a jovial Independence Day fireworks celebration.

If I was forced to describe the band's entire sound and approach in one word it would be disorienting. Like being strapped to the back of an out-of-control epileptic seizure patient, the entire listening experience is totally mind jarring and unsettling to say the least. Indeed it certainly requires more than one or two listens to absorb due to the entire recording's erratic and hurried pacing throughout but fortunately satisfying. Overall, there are eight songs total never going below the hyper blasting range with angular, totally jagged and unorthodox riffing styles applied to heighten a sense of urgency. In fact, while an earlier comparison sees me likening this to Rebaelliun further comparisons can be made to early Kataklysm as well (think Temple of Knowledge era) in that song structures are broken up in rather abrupt and disjointed patterns thus making you feel like you're being dragged in every different direction all at once yet miraculously executed with the sort of stop on a dime precision that would make even the most seasoned prog rock musician blush with envy. Yet despite its controlled chaos, the band's delivery is intensely barbarous and at times as empoweringly adrenaline inducing as Colombian imported cocaine. There's nothing in the way of overly technical or complex arrangements and I'd have to say that the band certainly forsakes groove and melody the same way Amy Winehouse forsakes rehab. Instead TLOD keeps things on a more primitive minded level and speaking of primitive, vocalist Eddie Monster helps to seal the venomously hateful delivery by way of his hissing rasps and gutteral roars that has me likening him to a possessed tribal warrior working himself up into a frenzy as he mercilessly rips the flesh off his opponents with bare hands and teeth. Of course, you can definitely expect the usual guitar wankery but this isn't just any guitar wankery for the call and response trade off soloing that occurs between axemen Arturo and Mr. Monster (I wonder if he's at all related to a Cookie Monster?) is quite monstrous and at times reminds you how awesome the Hoffman bros. were during the early days of Deicide actually was before alcohol and steroid poisoning set in.

Thankfully, the production isn't of the pro tools variety where there's usually as much of an ambiance as there is sexual activity at an old folk's nursing home on a daily basis. In this case, whoever did the knob twiddling certainly gave this a vitriolic atmosphere and gives a more authoritative, commanding resonance to the snare beats akin to perhaps Krisiun's Black Force Domain. Furthermore, the bass is even audible for once and at times resonates through the floorboards with a hypnotic pulsing tone which lends an otherworldly, mystical aura to the proceedings.

I could perhaps go on and on about the evident stagnation and redundancy in Death Metal but seeing how there's really no point to it, I won't. Having said that, TLOD certainly isn't breaking any barriers and yes, it's the sort of thing that's been done a thousand times before and will continue to be done until the sun nourishing this very planet of ours burns out thus bringing about the dreaded apocalypse. Otherwise, if you're looking for 'art' then perhaps you'd be better off pulling a chair up next to a beret wearing hippie at Starbucks and ask him what the recommendations of the day are. In the meantime, I'll just sit here, crank up the volume and smash Pabst cans across my skull. You've been warned.

September 5th, 2008