When I’d heard that Merchandise’s vocalist was a part of a black metal / d-beat outfit my interest was immediately piqued. I’d seen Merchandise in a Bloomington, Indiana basement not too long ago and they had left a fairly positive impression with their Echo and the Bunnymen meets The Smiths sound. Church Whip are entirely the opposite, but in many ways left a similar impression as they are both strikingly concise in their songwriting ability and equally as catchy.
Black metal purists will be immediately skeptical of Church Whip. It goes without saying that these Floridians will be thrown into the “hipster” black metal pile with little or no second thought. However, their simple genre-bending approach to black metal begs to be acknowledged. As both a young band and as a band with no “reputation” beyond their other projects (Merchandise, Cult Ritual, Divisions, Neon Blud, etc) Church Whip openly embrace black metal tropes, especially the vocal style and simple but methodical riffing of second-wave black metal acts such as Darkthrone and at times, Immortal.
Church Whip effectively blend thrash, black metal, and crust sounds into their first LP Psychedelic Nightmare, the result is a brief, 24 and a half minute burst of energy and looming destruction. It becomes fairly clear that after the first two or three tracks that Church Whip have an extremely methodical approach to writing their songs; a strong, repeatable riff, crashing cymbals, and very simple punk drum patterns. The production of the album is quite dirty as well, reminiscent of early black metal production that was done on eight-track players and recorded in cold basements. There is an urgency in Psychedelic Nightmare to recreate the sounds of black metal forefathers without mocking the originality of their work. Most importantly, the album is a quick delivery of anguish, nihilism, and depravity.
The album’s first track “Ruining the Vision” sets the stage with crashing, fleeting cymbals and a thrashy, almost perfectly sculpted riff. The chords are amusing reminders of how simple black metal can be and still appeal to the average “extreme music” listener. The song marches into a solo which is perhaps the most over the top moment of the entire album as it descends into quick punishing bursts of sneering vocals and melodic, abyssal hate. However, some of the strongest moments come from the shorter songs on the album, such as “Lost All of Us” and “Nightmare Jackals Advance” in which each component of the band is utilized to its fullest potential. Church Whip display a strong sense of self-awareness on their shorter tracks; not one member of the band gets more emphasis than they are allowed within the confines of the song’s structure.
Church Whip create a tense, immediate, and unrelenting atmosphere with Psychedelic Nightmare. It begs for repeated listens merely due to its rapid, vile nature. It is a strong debut album and one that certainly displays the kind of aggressive, demonic qualities that black metal listeners look for and the brief but energetic traits of thrash. And, if you find yourself willing, you’ll play it over and over, just to find the little homages to the fathers of black metal.
You can find the album as a free download and on vinyl at the band’s website here.
Ross Jeffries
March 2, 2013 at 6:41 pm
Church Whip has never claimed to be black metal. Because the guitarist was Horrid Cross, many people want CW to fit into the same genre, but they do not. This records sound is closer to Japanese punk/heavy metal worship. There are many inconsistencies within this shoddy review. First, CW is not a young band, they have been around for at least a few years. The track the reviewer titled “Ruining the vision” is “Ruin the vision II ” as in part 2 of the song that the seven inch ended with. The recording is relatively clean, and in no way sounds like an 8 track cold basement recording, as our clearly deaf reviewer claims. I’m sure there are many more foul ups in this review that might be easily caught by anyone who does 10 minutes of research. Maybe you other commenters should do the same, since you seem eager to voice your uninformed opinion.
Carnun77
March 9, 2013 at 7:39 pm
My stated opinion was that Church Whip,though enjoyable, aren’t Black Metal.I never heard of C.W before reading this review but I’ve 21 years of listening experience informing my opinion of what is and isn’t B.M. In that respect it seems your 10 mins research only goes to support the conclusion I came to after actually listening to the music.Who’s time was better spent?
Carnun77
February 9, 2013 at 12:04 pm
Whilst I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard of Church Whip so far I’m prone to agree with Faustian Bargain;this isn’t Black Metal.I like it and think a lot of folks that are into B.M will like it.”Sticking feathers up your but does not make you a chicken”,but it might be fun.
Faustian Bargain
February 4, 2013 at 4:30 pm
I am not purist of Black Metal by any means, but this really is not Black Metal. Did the band tag themselves as Black Metal? Just because the vocalist has something remotely sounding like a Black Metal style vocalist certainly doesn’t make the music as a whole ‘Black Metal’, be it the many types of Black Metal there are in the world. This seems like trendy horse shit to me. And yes, I think the word Hipster is deserved.