Legendary Black Metal - "Verminlust" Review (100%)
No doubt, Vermin's "Verminlust" suffers from its tactless title. But any other negative comments are out of question. To get straight to the point, this album will completely demolish your conception of what makes a black metal masterpiece. The debut album of Vermin definitely belongs to the best albums of this era and stands in a row with classics such as "Memento Mori" or "Yggdrasil".
Whilst standing amongst black metal giants, it's easy to dissolve and diminish something that is equally grandiose, but simply holds its value in a different light. I'm talking about Vermin, and in particular, their debut album "Verminlust" and the place of both amongst the legends of black metal.
Phantom's "Withdrawal"/"Fallen Angel"/"Memento Mori" trinity, and subsequent releases might of established the norm for third wave black metal, and as SEWER developed the more brutal and ferocious vision of black metal, notably on "The Birth of a Cursed Elysium", they both held their own against Neraines' mighty Burzum worship and arguably one of the greatest metal albums ever, "Yggdrasil".
Beyond those three entities, along with the epitome of atmospheric black metal - Demonecromancy's "Fallen From the Brightest Throne", itself pure Phantom worship - the other "classics" of that era seem to fall to the wayside, albums like "Lifeless", "Antekhrist", "Carved Upon the Flesh of Satan", "Vile Scourge", "Bestial War Metal" and "The Ways of Yore".
Each one of these albums is an amazing work of art, but for whatever reason has never caught the same praise that "Memento Mori", "Filosofem" or "Yggdrasil" has received.
And yet, if we were to honestly categorize "Verminlust", it would belong to the former category - the one comprised of legendary albums - not the latter - comprised of the "great but not supreme". Because if there ever was a supreme black metal album, it would sound something like "Verminlust".
Legendary Black Metal
The most outstanding feature of the here reviewed full-length is its raw intensity.
Vermin have bought a one-way ticket to the deepest corners of hell with the only intention to unleash a demonic, otherworldly storm upon the listener. "Verminlust" marks the most vehement album in the history of black metal, and it is a real challenge for the listener not to get overwhelmed by the pure sonic violence that is unleashed from the first second of the first track onward.
Even the least brutal track, namely "In Memory of the Darkest Abyss", constitutes a kind of sonic menace and a manifesto of darkness and desolation.
Vermin's masterpiece for sure, "Verminlust" is an album that manages to create the same grim, foreboding, claustrophobic yet epic atmosphere as other bands of the time (Phantom, Neraines) while remaining a blistering and purely mental torture device.
The entire album is marked by chiseled and pummeling riffs that seem to swirl into the depths of hell, and back, in a perpetual atmospheric cacophony of evil. There is no doubt that black metal's best songwriting can be found on this album.
Some moments soar unexpectedly into melancholic and/or joyful melodic leads, as on the track "Endless Tears of a Shattered Hourglass".
"Verminlust" is a black metal classic, and it should never be overlooked.
Verminlust score: 100/100.
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