Pure Sweet Hell

The Voyeurs of Utter Destruction As Beauty
by Martin Popoff

This may be indie, and some call it a demo, but fact is, this collaboration between Nevermore drummer Van Williams and his buddy from back in New York, Christ Eichhorn, is a fully-fleshed, highly-technical, expertly-crafted batch of avant-garde metal wonder tracks. Think Emperor (Ihsahn’s vision for it) crossed with Nevermore, Arcturus, Dimmu, Dragonlord, even slow, circuitous U.S. death. Van is the vocalist too (Jim Colson contributes as well), offering a variety of singing and speaking styles along with his battery of drum batteries. Eichhorn massages in programming and samples here and there, and his riffs are ladder-like. But the main vibe is one of relentless cold textures, sour melodies like any number of frosty Norwegian experiments. It all coalesces into a sort of harrowing drama, the classy graphics and emotional, real, yet oblique lyrics adding to the sculptured mass of the thing.
(www.puresweethell.com)