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Review: Christ Beheaded - Open the Gates of Hell
Christ Beheaded
www.myspace.com/christbeheaded666
Open the Gates of Hell

Label: Abyss Records
Year released: 2008
Duration: 22:28
Tracks: 5
Genre: Black Metal

Rating:
3/5


Review online: June 3, 2010
Reviewed by: Nahsil
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 2.89/5 (57.78%) (9 Votes)
Review

Here we have a straightforward black metal band from the frostbitten plains of Indiana. Their first and only release so far, this EP is standard fare for the genre, adjoining violent riffs and blast beats with slower doom-laden sections. There's quite a bit of tremolo-picking as well as some chunkier, death metal style chord progressions, but no matter what Christ Beheaded do, deja vu is quick to set in. The riffs aren't bad, but they're not original either, showing little sense of invention or adventure. The drumming is varied and agile, but it's limited by the composition of the music, which is too safe and conventional. There are some nice lead guitar forays, but they're not enough to spice up the whole experience.

"Count Magnus" on vocals has a terrifically normal black metal shriek. He does his job well enough; were the music to improve and his vocals stay the same, the EP would score much higher. Nothing extraordinary, but he does sound vitriolic and beastly.

There isn't much to complain about with this release, except a lack of forward-vision. For a band with provocative imagery, they don't do much to shock or stimulate the senses with their music, unless this is your first time hearing the ugliness and vehemence that is (a lot of) black metal.

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