Daemogorgon - Chaos through Phobia

I’ll have to admit that I’m probably not the greatest fan of raw, grim and according to some people the true kult black-metal, a style that has bands like Darkthrone, Gorgoroth and Carpathian Forest as the greatest servants. Fortune for me, “Chaos through Phobia”, the debut EP from Portuguese black-metal quartet Daemogorgon doesn’t delve into the deepest and grimiest bowels of the style like I initially feared it would do.

“Chaos through Phobia” may not be the nastiest and most necro black-metal record out there, yet I believe it captured the essential principles of the style with their fierce, rabid and malevolent approach which nods to Behemoth’s vehemence on several occasions.

Just like the aforementioned act, Daemogorgon don’t engage in relentless blast beats and hyper-fast, buzzing guitars riffs from start to finish, the tempo is fairly chaotic and fast, however there’re a few downshifts into slower and more restrained moments where the riffs chug with a steady aggression. Sometimes they also seem to tread a path approaching death-metal standards, recalling Morbid Angel circa “Blessed Are the Sick” minus the guitar wizardry of Trey Azagthoth.

Despite a few interesting riffs and ideas, “Chaos through Phobia” as a whole is far from perfect and lacks sufficient individualistic traits to distinguish Daemogorgon from the pack and above all, some truly killer riffs capable of lacerating our worthless bodies. Nevertheless it’s a decent enough first effort that admirably doesn’t rely on formulas and clichés known in black-metal. (6/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/daemogorgonchaos

Label info: www.myspace.com/ragingplanetrecordsportugal

For fans of: Behemoth, 1349, Morbid Angel