Review Summary: Cash money Satan adorning himself with jewelery of the highest caliber of zazz and wearing the finest clothes that Hell can buy.
Not since Marduk's "*** Me Jesus" have we been greeted with such thought/boner provoking artwork that edgily fused blasphemous themes of sacrilege and alluring female sexuality. Until now. Rhode Island's youngest prodigal sons of all that is dark, sexy and unholy have emerged from the grave to release a blistering yet melodic black metal EP called "To Corrupt Your Sons and Lust After Your Daughters". The 2013 released EP comes from Bog of the Infidel which at first glance might indicate to the viewer black metal of the purest, the trvest and the most morally corruptible strain not seen since early Archgoat. If that's what you are expecting then you might be disappointed because Bog of the Infidel play a more dynamic and varied form of black metal similar to mid 90's Dissection and Immortal except not quite as masterful as their predecessors.
Most of the trademarks of quality 90's black metal are here. Musty vocals, tremolo picking, dense atmosphere and a keen eye for melody coupled with a strong rhythmic backdrop help keep the momentous pull of the EP going strong for 18 minutes. You are greeted briefly with a acoustic introduction before getting down to business. The first real song "An Epitaph Scribed in Dismal Skies" is a mid-paced affair that instantly reminds you of the 90's greats featuring intricate soloing and memorable passages. The plodding tempo carries on to the final two tracks which make great use of harsh/clean vocals and plodding riffs. I'm not typically a fan of black metal that operates at such a slowish tempo but Bog are tight enough of musicians to make it work. A minor complaint that I had with this release is that the EP doesn't sound as ferocious or as blasphemous as their artwork/album title would indicate. The true essence of black metal is projected perfectly here but the unbridled ferocity of such genre luminaries like Dissection, Marduk and Immortal are not. It seems, to me at least, that Bog is only moving at about 60/65% of their maximum capacity. I feel like they are capable of going super saiyan at any given moment but they instead opt to skip that urge to go all out and tread around the doomish template they opened up with. Another nitpick here is the lack of Satan. With the confrontational artwork and corruptible album title you'd expect significantly more vileness to ascend from the speakers to your ears, mind and heart.
With all that's been said about Bog of the Infidel's latest release, both good and bad, this EP is a great showing of traditional black metal that's being performed by adept musicians. The production is raw enough to satisfy the black metal purists and the songwriting is compelling enough to appeal to the new wave of black metal listeners. I just hope for their next release that Bog lets Satan come in to their home to personally embellish their rigid orthodoxy with a slathering coat of misanthropy and a controlled needle injection of vitriol.
