PANZERCHRIST

The blackened death metal beast PANZERCHRIST has been sharpening the blade for more than 30 years, save a ten-year hiatus, broken by last year's hard-hitting comeback "Last of a Kind". The Danish death-dealing veterans are clearly back in the groove, quickly imprecating album number nine, "Maleficium Part 1". It is a better release and one that synthesizes the variety of styles and sounds that since 1993 PANZERCHRIST has explored.

Not unlike many long-running acts, PANZERCHRIST has undergone a variety of lineup makeovers that have included more than a couple dozen people, quite literally. The core duo of bassist and keyboardist Michael "Panzergeneral" Enevoldsen as well as guitarist Frederik O'Carroll has been accompanied in recent years by new faces, most notably powerhouse vocalist Sonja Rosenlund. With the Panzergeneral's intent and optimization of the membership's key strengths, "Maleficium Part 1" brings the band full circle through its early days in a sense. The oppressive death metal brutality of yore eventually morphed toward more clearly defined black metal pastures over the years, until last year's comeback album, that is, which fused death metal ferocity with black metal evil.

Now, with new drummer Ove Lungskov (ROTTEN OCEAN) on board, replacing Danni Jelsgaard, whose impressive work graced last year's album, the death metal rage has become even more of a focal point. With opening song "Blood Leeches", the quintet showcases how incredibly fast and heavy it can be. Lungskov's drumming isn't exactly the same as the unit's old, revered timekeeper Reno Killerich (DIMMU BORGIR, HATE ETERNAL, DEW-SCENTED and VILE),but comparisons can be made and Lungskov's performance is utterly savage. "Sister Death" is even more assailing and abrasive, one of the most intense death metal songs the band has ever written. On the other end of the spectrum, "Curse Of Desire" is a hateful slow-burn.

But PANZERCHRIST does more than simply shift gears between overt death metal and black metal. The styles blend together, there are layers of sound, and the songwriting is exceptionally dynamic. A song like "Mist Of The Moat" is just as groovy as it is bombastic. The slower portions allow for haunting atmospherics to enter like an enveloping fog draping a cemetery's surface. The musical backdrop is a perfect hand-in-glove fit with Sonja's medieval tales of witchcraft, married additionally to the haunting keyboard work and opening samples on a song like "Confessions". She sounds like a possessed witch with an evil, biting voice that sometimes brings Jeff Walker to mind.

If we can imagine what BEHEMOTH might have sounded like had they continued closer along their late nineties' trajectory, that's a general sonic picture that PANZERCHRIST paints. It should also scratch the itch for those fanatics of evil death metal who clamor for a band like GOD DETHRONED. "Maleficium Part 1" is a fantastic, extreme death/black metal album that is worthy of the spotlight.