Unleashing a venomous fury in the style of Marduk, Dark Funeral and Impaled Nazarene, the new songs fall between a pure infernal sound with infectious blast beats and demonic screeching: each blasting battery and fiery tremolo picked-riff transforms into a hellish inferno on the opening track ‘Master Morality’. Tsatthoggua’s new album fucking rules, the sonic ante has been maximized. Every aspect of the demonic vocals and the thrashy black metal riffs launches into ferociousness and intensity, with the minimal use of synth that adds some grim atmosphere.

The drums fire on all cylinders at lightning-fast tempos in tracks like ‘Vorwärts Vernichter’ where the flow of the scathing riffs swirls through sheer thunder exploding in a fiendish aggression. The vocals are traditionally black metal, with a sharp, screech, injecting a destructive force that sends shivers down your spine. The drums are powerful and relentless and the mix of these elements results in very catchy and melodic passages on ‘The Doom-Scrawl Of Taran-Ish’.

Tsatthoggua dedicated its new album to fans of Scandinavian black metal. However, the guitar tone has a very German, Teutonic sound to it. The catchy choruses are backed with powerful double bass and often fueled by blast beats. The simple formula here recalls the glorious years of the second wave of black metal. The colossal burst of the blazing guitar riffs on ‘I Drive My Dogs (To Thule)’ begins with a fierce mid-tempo. There are also some bombastic and grandeur parts that show the songwriting facet of these German lads.

Anyone who enjoys raw black metal will find the new album ridiculously compelling and addictive. The songwriting and guitar structure of Tsatthoggua are spot on. The third studio album alternates between melodic and aggressive black metal with the guitar and drums given focus throughout the forty-two minutes. The keyboard parts bring in all the thrills and unleash ominous riffs that swirl like a rumbling thunder. The blistering drums maintain the fast-paced tempos in the track ‘True Black Love’ which contains a pure and violent onslaught. The band takes a different approach preferring to focus on superb musical arrangements. This flamboyance gives us a nasty and raw black metal fury in the track ‘No Paradise for Human Sheep’.

The frantic tone of the vocals delivers a variety of styles that showcase the evolution since the early 90s. Most importantly, Tsatthoggua rises above the herds with a sinister and traditional sound of black metal. The song’s highlight includes some intense guitar solos with the rhythm guitar exuding venomous hate. ‘Gloria Extasia’ combines catchy guitar hooks before the drums unleash a hail of blasting fury. Though not all songs are played in a straightforward manner, Tsatthoggua nurtures the chaotic tempos with the gripping sound of the guitars and the machine gun drums inserting melodic hooks in the right moments.

“We Are God” sets a different musical path and opts for a classical Norwegian and Swedish black metal sound. While still sounding unique and evil, the album’s title track ‘We Are God’ blends in an atmospheric grandeur. In terms of intensity and evilness, the scathing guitar is given an instant powerful hook. In my opinion, the guitar work on the album remains the highlight. There’s plenty of old-school black metal fury that resembles bands like Marduk or Desaster. In comparison to other German black metal bands Tsatthoggua delivers the ultimate example of sounding raw and devilish black metal.

The closing song ‘Pechmarie’ is full of thrashing gallop machine gun blast beats and dynamic riffs. There are no flaws or lack of creativity in the nine songs because the quartet delivers a thrashing satanic aggression from start to finish.

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