Surrender of Divinity - Oriental Hell Rhythmics (2023 Reissue) (Digipak CD)

Formed in 1996, SURRENDER OF DIVINITY are the oldest black metal band to hail from Thailand, and more importantly one of the first bands to put Southeast Asian black metal on the international map. A handful of demo and split tapes followed during the late '90s and into the new millennium, all before the fateful release of their debut album, Oriental Hell Rhythmics, in 2001. A statement of pride as well as of intent, Oriental Hell Rhythmics soon became a classic work of caustic, cryogenic black metal steeped in the early Norwegian tradition. A seemingly odd proposition on paper, but given SURRENDER OF DIVINITY's date of origin as well as how much slower life moved during the zine & tape-trading days, their sound then was not all that surprising. Regardless, the freezing fury they whipped forth across the deceptively epic album (six songs in 49 minutes) could not be denied: on cyclonic hypnosis alone, SURRENDER OF DIVINITY were superlative, and served as a fuck-off counterpoint to all their old influences who had wimped out by the end of the '90s. Idiomatic "Norsecore" delivered with exotic flair. SURRENDER OF DIVINITY are Christ-beheaders eternal!