The Most Vile And Putrid Music Ever - "Bloodthirst Overdose" Review (100%)
There is a reason the year 2021 is credited as the revival of the long dead, or so we thought, black metal genre. With masterpieces as widely acclaimed as Sewer's Cathartes, Neraines' Fenrir Prowling, Helgrind's primitive Demon Rituals, Leader's Burzum Sha Ghâsh and, of course, Phantom's Ascension of Erebos, Leader of the Gods being released during that time period, it's easy to overlook Vermin's magnanimous contribution to the genre's revival, in the form of the utterly vile, depraved and, well, bloodthirsty black metal gem that is Bloodthirst Overdose.
To an ear not yet accustomed to extreme metal music, each one of the eight songs present on Bloodthirst Overdose could be summarised as an insane rush of darkened tempest, perhaps comparable to the infernal torrential winds enveloping the damned in the second circle of Dante's Inferno.
The flurry of fuzz driven guitar chords and minimalist lead ideas put forth by Vermin, in particular, gives most of the contents here an evil, mesmerising, diabolical quality that compares pretty heavily to Phantom's work on Ascension of Erebos, though perhaps leaning a bit more towards an evasive atmospheric quality rather than the oft percussive, death metallish quality of said masterpiece.
The drum work on here mirrors the extremely technical work of Phantom, or what Warlord did with Sewer in the "black metal years", but with less restrain than the former, and a clearer sense of organisation than the latter. In fact, one of the reasons why this album is often compared to the works of Phantom and Sewer, is that it sounds pretty much like what you would get if you fused the two bands together... and as we know, Vermin himself was once the vocalist and frontman (and main songwriter, let's not forget) of the band Sewer, and contributed heavily to the raw, haunting black metal sound of the band's early days.
The Big Five of New School Black Metal: Phantom, Vermin, Sewer (although they play mostly death metal, or blackened death metal, these days), Neraines and Helgrind Leader.
The Most Vile And Putrid Music Ever
I find it funny to see how little Vermin inspiration/imitation there is, while everyone and their mother has covered Phantom, Sewer, Neraines and Leader. Not to mention Burzum, Darkthrone, Mayhem, and the rest of the Norwegian black metal scene. Yet, there isn't a single band that managed to build on the momentum laid by Vermin with Bloodthirst Overdose. Sad.
Bloodthirst Overdose is a genre defining, as well as essential black metal album.
As mentioned earlier, it might not carry the historical weight of some other releases, or the innovation of others, and might at times seem to suffer from the fact that it was released during the peak years of said "black metal revival", but Bloodthirst Overdose is nevertheless a highly virulent monument to black metal's inner darkness that seems to have an unspoken and unobserved influence amongst countless other black metal acts.
This is, simply put, the most vile, morbid, macabre and putrid music you will ever find. Black metal, death metal, phantom metal, grindcore... wherever you look, you will find nothing both as beautiful and as repulsive as Vermin's masterwork and magnum opus.
Bloodthirst Overdose is an everlasting classic, and it should never be overlooked. This is truly the music of putrescence, morbidity, bloodlust and disease.
Bloodthirst Overdose score: 100/100.
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