For a genre whose lexicon is made up of the symbolism of ruin, blasphemy, isolation, solitude, coldness and spiritual revolt against the very concept of a ‘god’, any idea of Christian redemption is an anathema. A reeking, putrescent essence of falsehood and psychological depravity. Yet just because the very idea of redemption, of being saved from sin, from the error of one’s ways, from evil, is so outwardly antithetical to a genre of black-souled, fiercely proud individualists, that doesn’t mean it cannot serve Black Metal’s purpose of attacking the very ideas of atonement and salvation at their core.
Just consider this. Historically, the Christian faith is the ultimate expression of self-delusion, of a bovine, slavish devotion to a god that never existed and will certainly never return here in triumph to judge the living and the dead. There is no god, no Jesus Christ the Saviour of humanity or any afterlife to which we are all destined to reside in paradise, or as sinners, to burn in perpetuity. This idea, every tiny grain of it, was created and perpetuated by humans, whether cynically or inspired by their insane ‘visions of splendour’. In reality it makes little difference. No god is going to save you, no matter how much you pray, fast, sacrifice and obsess over the idea.
So the idea that generations of the gullible have formed medieval flagellant cults or become cilice-wearing ascetics living lives of futile self-denial can and does inspire Black Metal that ferociously attacks the stupidity of spiritual suffering. The idea that living in a monastery with other deluded and simple-minded servants of the Lord will bring revelations of his glory is frankly insane and should be as much mocked as attacked.
The mysterious Penance in Blood declares war on the idea of redemption and religious suffering very effectively II, their third official release, is a masterful excoriation of religious falsehoods and lies. With the music itself alternating between raw, trance-inducing passages similar in approach and execution to Darkspace and short devotional ambient chants, this magnificent release charts humanity’s continual, unremitting descent into the religious abyss of nothingness.
Album opener Hymn V sets the stage with a doomy, echoey and incoherent homily delivered to the credulous herd before moving into the furious, raw blackness of Relic V. A brief, ambient respite takes hold during Hymn VI before Relic VI takes the powerful assault onward. Finally, the truly hymn-like final track Hymn VIII possesses an atmosphere that captures the delusion perfectly: smug, assured, cosy, a belief that the Virgin Mary will always comfort and succour true believers.
Like the two previous demo releases, this is a work of incredible intelligence and black creativity that goes way beyond the crudeness of sarcasm or even satire. It carries one into the mind of the gullible, into those centuries of religious madness, and endless suffering for no purpose. All to worship at the altar of a man-made divinity. The joke is so funny it engenders tears.
Penance in Blood are masters of scorn and derision, destroying any notion that god worship has any merits whatsoever, because through penance the flesh pleads, through blood the spirit breaks. And redemption remains a door that never opens.
Tapes available from the label website: https://rabauw.com/products/penance-i…
Digital available from the Penance in Blood Bandcamp: https://penanceinblood.bandcamp.com/a…