Artist: Hermh
Title: Cold Blood Messiah
Type: Album
Label: Regain Records
The Polish Black/Death metal band Hermh formed in 1993, split up and re-formed and reinvented themselves two years ago. Their home city Bialystok is like a factory for producing metal bands, amongst them Dead Infection and Abused Majesty with whom they share members. At the same time they sit in the midst of the impressive and extensive Polish Black/Death metal scene, having musical similarities and historical line-up associations with Devilish Impressions and the cult band Christ Agony. These days the trailblazers for Polish Black Metal are Behemoth, and yes, Nergal has connections with the band. Whilst similarly anti-Christian, Hermh do not have the flamboyance of Behemoth though. Instead it’s a harsher world, represented in the form of vampiric atmospheres and symphonic sounds.
The opening track of “Cold Blood Messiah” sums up the style. The riff of “Hairesis” has been going through my head since I first heard it. It’s utterly imperious and militaristic. It’s as if we’re marching into war. The choir chants for the unholy crusade in response to the vocalist’s appeals. It’s catchy. It puts us in the mood for the battle. “Instrumentum Diaboli” continues in the same vein. There’s a sense of imposed discipline and order amid the unsettling and turbulent chaotic atmosphere. This reminds me a lot of the Devilish Impressions album “Diabolicanos. Act III: Armageddon”. The pace is measured, it’s sinister, the screams are painful. Meanwhile the choir rises eerily above the chaos. Carols from King’s College, anyone? From Hell, more like. The soft, yet menacing tones of the choir on “Eyes of the Blind Lamb” peer through the ever strengthening potency and gloom. Blasting drums, a rasping vocalist and strident guitars mete out the appropriate level of punishment. It’s fluid, meanwhile the occasional guitar scream creates the impression of being stabbed in the heart. The choir continues in superior majesty. “Lord Shall Be Revealed” has the familiar air of a Polish Black Metal track. Symphonic in its nature, the impression is of bats flying around in the air. The track stops and starts. The environment is that of frantic intensity and fear. Distorted and depressing acoustics leads us into “I Bring You Fear”. The drummer’s beats convey the mood. Again we have another majestic chorus and despairing sermon. There’s simply no room for mercy in this stuff. “Sin is the Law” is similarly uncompromising and brutal. Yet there’s a loftiness about it all. I found myself being sucked into a world of horror and nastiness as like “Hairesis” I hummed the chorus to this one. The invitation is there to join the satanic army. Don’t expect the experience of “Cold Blood Messiah” to be pleasant. It’s not. It’s enjoyable though. An acoustic interlude precedes “Who Can Be Against Us”, another roaring, violent rant. The chorus has all but gone as we again move to more traditional territory on “In My Flesh I See God”. Chaos is in the air as usual, the riff is pulverising, then we’re led into a flourishing guitar passage. Nevertheless the overall message is that it’s a harsh world out there. And so it ends.
There’s a definite Polish take on Black Metal and here it is on “Cold Blood Messiah”. It’s the sound of a punishing existence. I highly recommend this impressive work if you want to bring some turbulent dark atmosphere into your life.
http://www.hermh.pl
http://www.myspace.com/hermh
http://www.regainrecords.com
Andrew Doherty
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