After two demos released in 2002 and 2004 respectively Athame are ready to introduce their first Christfucking full-length and blaspheme unto the world via Grimoire Records. Athame spawned in 2001 so with fifteen years swimming in the Stix they have got to yield a refined and diabolical technique right?
Fuck that. It’s kvlt.
Their first sin is a truly horrific reflection of Black Metal, offering nauseating riffs and contemptuous viscera, that sounds like it was ripped and torn from Baphomets unlikely womb and in its fearless dominion over aural torture it’s devilishly pornographic.
As guitars spin like blades and eviscerate any semblance of sanity, heating up to become almost too hot to handle, the sheer intensity of With Cunning Fire and Adversarial Resolve is the Berserker conquering all that challenges him. Athame are a blessing in diguise.
The foreboding structure of the album arises to dominate the atmosphere in room like a grand cathedral of debauchery and suffering. Athame have really mastered the blackness in their hearts to make this album. Carving a demonic pledge into heaven with their own bile and giving their songs prominent menace to your air space in ungodly form. Making their twisted offense against God a truly evil and yet cathartic sentence.
8/10
