SACRIFICE THE NAZARENE CHILD FEST 7 – ARCHGOAT, THORNSPAWN, DEMONIC CHRIST

Sacrifice the Nazarene Child Festival is the United State's premiere black metal festival. For seven years now the festival has featured the best of the USBM scene and the occasional appearance of elite black metal from over seas. Along with a who’s who in the Texas black metal community, Finnish goat-worshipping, raw black metallers ARCHGOAT made a rare U.S. appearance.

The festival took place in northern San Antonio at Sam's Burger joint. I entered the joint via an outdoor patio (warm climates are great) with tables and a bar. To the right was the “burger joint” where you could get a tasty half pound, Texas-style grilled burger. On the left was the venue. The venue was somewhat small, but still large enough to house a couple hundred metal heads in their pit area and several vendors lined up around the side. Full Moon Productions, a label that featured many of black metal’s best in the mid to late 90s, was in attendance. There were many vendors carrying rare CDs and vinyl, and Last Nightmare Productions had a vast array of killer t-shirts you won’t find anywhere else (I bought a SATYRICON “Dark Medieval Times” shirt).

UNCHRIST opened the night with their classic Norwegian-style, ala MAYHEM and GORGOROTH, blackness. Their singer commanded the stage like a satanic sergeant. The group dealt a good amount of speed and I liked their style, the only complaint was the murky sound. I later spoke with their singer/guitarist who informed me about how the group was spread out all over the south and they didn’t have enough time to properly practice for the show. I felt their playing was fine; the sound was the group’s only issue.

Hailing from Plano, Texas, DAGON took the stage next. DAGON was visually
appealing due to the bizarre gate-type prop and black-and-white swirled corpse paint that made them appear as specters. The group’s singer Blood Moon (who also plays with XASTHUR and CRIMSON MOON) energetically sang with rough, cruel, mid-range vocals in the style of Rob Darken of GRAVELAND and Akhenaton of JUDAS ISCARIOT. This threesome played emotive, suicidal black metal with a few galloping rhythms. Again, though, their sound was a bit murky and the drums’ acoustics could have been better.

While shooting the shit with some locals, one dude told me to check out NODENS from their home town Houston. I would get the opportunity soon for the group took the stage next. NODENS played fast with especially fast picking and fast guitar slides. Their drummer blasted his kit at an astonishing rate. I would describe their sound as no-bullshit speedy black metal in the vein of MARDUK and DARK FUNERAL. NODENS was another good black metal band anchored down by poor sound. They were also hindered by a sound that came across with too much treble due to the absence of their bassist.

The sound crew found the right settings for the next band, OBESIANCE. The said group is a three piece from El Paso, Texas. This was another band with excellent stage presence. Bald and donning a pair of Aviator sun glasses and a bandito-style ammunition rounds crossed the singer’s chest and shoulders. With a blood-splattered, large, wooden inverted cross decorating the stage, the singer bull-dozed the crowd with a monstrous, distorted bass. Because they only used one guitarist, the bass stood out even more. The bass had so much distortion I thought about MORTICIAN, but with a style that is more in line with drunkards, GEHENNA. The pounding war drums, shredding solos bring to mind black/thrash legends like HELLHAMMER and older BATHORY. They were a great band to watch and the crowd’s response proved it.

Black metal is more interesting live than death metal because groups of this sub-genre are more appealing to the eye. The next group subscribes that idea wholeheartedly. Another Houston, Texas band, ADUMUS plays in full knight, battle gear. The singer, Cerebrus, plays the bass and screams forth satanic battle commands in chain mail, which must get extremely hot, but sure is entertaining. They also had some cool side banners featuring the group’s logo inside shields. The group sounded good and dished out warring drum hammers, soaring riffs, more blazing speed, but was tempered with appropriate tempo changes. Watch for a review of their demo and their recent split with BLASPHERIAN on Metalcentre.

The festival stepped outside its native land of Texas for a moment to recruit the Florida, raw black metal outfit, INCURSUS. The Forever Plagued Records artist took the stage next with a look and sound that was equally frightening. The group was decked out in black, ritualistic robes with the figure of Christ hanging upside down from the large crosses that dangled from their necks. The singer wore an odd gauntlet on his left hand that looked like the talon of a dead raptor. This group also showcased fast rhythms, especially the bass, sliding string guitar rhythms, and icy tone, and slow, nightmarish, single string notes that MAYHEM and SATYRICON have come to perfect. This group also utilized a distorted bass that, at times, was a bit much for the speakers. The bassist would hit his bass strings hard and the speakers would crackle. The vocals were mostly black metal screams but there was an occasional death metal gurgle.

Except for THORNSPANW whose singer/drummer, Blackthorn organized the festival, the rest of the bands came from outside the great state of Texas. TERATISM came all the way from the frozen north of Minnesota. The bassist and drummer would pull double duty for the very next band, DEMONIC CHRIST. TERATISM came across as a very dark band. The group wore hooded robes, inverted crosses, gauntlets, and of course, corpse paint. The hooded robes reminded me of how EMPEROR and SIGH used to look. The bassist, who also played in DEMONIC CHRIST, hid his face behind a black, leather mass. He gave the group a weird look. This group was my favorite of the evening due to the impressive stage presence, diabolic bar chord crunches, explosive double bass, and haunting sound.

I have been waiting a long time to see North Carolina’s DEMONIC CHRIST. The group is one of the forerunners of the USBM scene, appearing in the early 90s before black metal took off in the U.S. Former bassist, Jon Vesano went on to form another black metal act, DARK MOON, and played bass and provided backing vocals for NILE. Also, their singer is a female who sounds demonically possessed. One would be hard pressed to find a more extreme female singer. Duffey, also known as Satania showed no traced of femininity belting out fiery curses upon heaven. Gilles De Rais, bassist for TERATISM came out looking much different on the stage with DEMONIC CHRIST. This time you could see his face, although it was covered in corpse paint with an inverted cross painted on his forehead. The first song featured undulating high-end/low-end guitar and drum rhythms. Some of their tunes showed awesome mid-paced bar chord rhythms and depressive melodies.

Another essential group to the USBM scene, THORNSPAWN played after DEMONIC CHRIST. THORNSPAWN plays no bullshit, raw, tremolo-based black metal. THORNSPAWN stood apart from the other bands of the night in that their singer also plays the drums. Drummers who also sing are such a rarity that it grabs your attention. Despite blasting away on his drums, Blackthorn’s vocals sounded raw, accomplishing exactly what the band is going for. The guitars were catching featuring excelling rolling, seas-of-Absu style riffs. The crowd showed its support by coming out in droves to pump their fist and hail their horns. Everything seemed fine except for the speakers crackling when Blackthorn spoke into his mic between songs. It was not as noticeable when the band played, though.

I first heard ARCHGOAT on their split with Finnish countrymen, BEHERIT. Their sound could be described as throwing a church full of Christians into a wood chipper. Their singer, Lord Angelslayer’s vocals tread a razor-thin line between death and black metal. They are extremely guttural, but still maintain certain blackness to them. Although ARCHGOAT didn’t quite sound as raw as in the studio, their music still was heavy as fuck and loud! The three-piece were the true definition of modern black metal wearing deadly spiked gauntlet, black and white corpse paint, various satanic images painted on their body, and what looked like blood running down their shirtless torsos. The group mixes up their sound well with tempo changes that range from mid-paced, DARKTHRONE type rhythms to doomy dirges to hellish speed. The group came all the way from Finland and the packed, maniacal showed it was not a wasted trip!

Overall, I had a great time at the Sacrifice the Nazarene Fest 7. The bands were all good and varied. The venue was awesome. The vendors had tons of great stuff, I could have easily spent a thousand dollars. If you are a fan of black metal, even if you live several states away, this festival is well worth your money to come see. And the admission price can’t be beat, $20. Most metal festivals charge $50 and up. I’ll make sure to come again next year.

Head over to the gallery section for visual evidence of the show.