OBEISANCE

"Satan Blood Death Fuck", those are the words written across the lower back of a popular EXODUS hoodie, but it is OBEISANCE's "Satanik Fuck" that reminded of the string. It is that overt profaneness that so aptly represents the excoriating black/thrash of the long running and stubbornly underground "Hell Paso" band. As if the title weren't enough of an indicator, one only need look to the name of main man Martin Von Fah Q (Throat and Thunder) and the "Fuck you: to Al Gore, Bono, and all Nobel Peace Prize Winners" written in the liner notes to gather that the essence of OBEISANCE has nothing to do with political correctness or civility and everything to do with blasphemous and war-fed metal toxicity.

None of that would be worth a sore ass if OBEISANCE didn't serve up a whole hell of a lot of sweltering, filthy black/thrash mayhem that takes cues directly from the masters, whether VENOM, early SODOM, or early BATHORY. Theirs is a proud, defiant cause and anything less than throat-slitting metal just isn't in the cards. "Satanik Fuck" is a compilation disc that includes the "Satanik Shoktroops Auf Doom" and "F.U.C.K." EPs, as well as re-recorded versions of early tracks and one previously unreleased cut. Raw and dangerously in-your-face, "Satanik Fuck" is a good representation of what OBEISANCE has always done so well: the performance of rabid, lyrically shocking (no hidden meanings or esoteric prose here),black/thrash that eschews the frilly and features songwriting that is as straight ahead as it is memorable, thanks to an emphasis on meat and potatoes composition. The guys aren't afraid to ride the occasional groove either, such as on "Infinitely Diabolic". You'll even hear the occasional cowbell for goat's sake!

The point is that the band blasts and ravages its way through songs that rely on buzz saw riffing, distorted bass rumble, whammy screams, quick/calamitous drumming, and Von Fah Q's harsh, barking vocals in a way that is both infinitely headbangable and face melting. Beginners might opt to start with full-lengths like 2002's "Lucifer Master" or 2006's "Unholy, Unwholesome and Evil". Then again, "Satanik Fuck" is an effective introduction to the uncompromising ways of OBEISANCE.