DESTROYER 666, See You in Hell  (2010, Invictus Productions)

The skull:
If we are indeed doomed to Hell and find ourselves in the presence of skulls barfing up wolves, I’ll take a one-way ticket as soon as one becomes available, please.

The music:
I have a very good friend who counts Destroyer 666 amongst his absolute all-time favorite metal bands. He has, time and time again, exposed me to their supposed awesomeness, and while I admit their mastery, the connection is always an arm’s length away. I just can’t fully get into the D666 thing. Despite some great riffs and obvious mastery of their chosen craft, they leave me cold. But, as said, I can respect them. This two-song 7″ features the title track, which is not a cover of the Grim Reaper title track. It is, rather, a mid-paced, martial, fairly hypnotic affair, led by militaristic snare drum, blurry layers of guitar and caustic vocals. The second side is more interesting, as “Through the Broken Pentagram” finds all kinds of wicked guitar melodies, quality riffs, propulsive drumming and heavily layered vocals woven together to create quite the malevolent 4 minutes and 42 seconds. The layering of harsh vocals atop other vocals that aren’t exactly melodic but aren’t harsh either, but rather despondently spat out, reminds of Algaion’s General Enmity album somewhat. The song cruises along in a kind of organized calamity, like the final moments of Slayer’s “Mandatory Suicide” expanded into an entire song; it captures that frightening, world-collapsing sort of vibe. “Through the Broken Pentagram” might be the most interesting song I’ve heard by these dudes yet.
— Friar Wagner