After I had a look at the album cover I could not help smiling – and it was the same with the album title as well as the pseudonym of singer Christcrusher including his masquerade aroused worst expectations in me…
But against all fears awakened by the first optical impression, Christcrushing Anthems is really well done. The bloody potage boils upon Nordic flames, which means that the Austrian band makes music in tradition of Satyricon and Immortal. The guitars' shredding brings out some cool melody lines and the speed is well chosen. THY NEMESIS does not lapse into permanent flush of speed. Despite of breezy gallop they do not drift into chaos. The keyboards sound conveniently and undemonstratively, they enrich the musical spectrum with fine melodies. I also like the drums; they are varied and well played.
The voice is used in different ways, namely screeching as well as growling and can be seen as positive aspect too. Amazingly the singer is comprehensible without booklet. All lyrics are based on ancient Austrian tales and legends, they are sung in German and English. In my opinion it would have been better to choose German language only because of lyrical authenticity – so it is only used in the first song An Friedhofsmauern.
The sound is quite full of a certain drive and all instruments can be heard clearly. Producer Claus Prellinger in his CCP studio has managed to wrap the compositions into transparent sound characteristics.
As a conclusion I can say that Christcrushing Anthems convinces me in reference to sound and musical aspects. The CD will satisfy all fans of Nordic Black Metal. In the end I would like to advise the two artists on their bloody path to pay more attention to the next cover-artwork!