IMPALED NAZARENE

When they say "twenty-six pieces", they're not kidding — two dozen songs and a couple intros, totaling 67 minutes of IMPALED NAZARENE's most vicious, filthy, punked-out black metal mayhem. Fifteen years into a career of evil that's been frustratingly hard to follow Stateside, this release serves not only as a potent and menacing live document, but a great best-of and introduction to the band and their brand of drunken, off-the-rails blackened violence.

The songs here are nailed with a ferocious performance that's tight and focused, but still ripping and brutal — and, impressively, even faster than the studio versions (just listen to the blazing "Cogito Ergo Sum", from 2001's "Nihil"!). Songs from all eras of the band's notorious existence are offered up, including the controversial "Total War – Winter War" (the band's anti-Russian lyrics caused their albums to be banned in some countries in the '90s). The recording is just dirty and flayed enough to let the grit and blood seep through, while maintaining enough clarity for the band's hyperspeed anthems to remain clear and distinguishable.

With song titles like "The Lost Art of Goat Sacrificing", "Sadistic 666/Under a Golden Shower", and "Let's Fucking Die", it's not hard to figure out where the blasphemous sensibilities of IMPALED NAZARENE lie. They're fast, tight, catchy, mean as hell, and their thrashing black metal whirlwind is about as metal as it gets. Start here, then work your way back through their catalog as you can find the albums, because IMPALED NAZARENE is a must.