Bahimiron has two things going for them. They hail from Texas and they play crisp, sharp war black metal. They have been around for a little while but I did not hear them til the As The Sun Burns split though it was not til late 2006 with Pure Negativism: In Allegiance With Self Wreckage, which I admit to picking up based on the album cover art, which reminded me of Gorgoroth’s Destroyer, with the disembodied head through which we see war imagery, that I gave them a chance. The band is made up of Grimlord, the mastermind, Blaash, the drunken drummer, Krag Daggon, he who has a habit of pissing on churches, and JenOside, the French born maid from Teratism, which is relevant because of ties to Demonic Christ and Kult ov Azazel, guilt by association and all that. Where Pure Negativism was fast and noisy with a reliance on distortion, with buzzing, swirling shrieked roars, wails and moans, vocals buried in the mix giving that echoing in a cave feel giving the up from the depths creepiness you expect from a Lovecraft movie adaptation. Southern Nihilizm is quite a change. It is fast and noisy with not as much distortion to its chaotic buzzing wailing assault with its vocals much more up front and a near continuous clashing of cymbals. Texas has proven you do not need to be from a cold climate to produce icy black metal, just from the sphere of influence of the catholic church.

The key to this band is the vocals. Without Grimlord they would just be your basic run of the mill twisted demented bash and bellow band, “Flowing Blood of the Virgin Borne” withstanding, the need is there to do more along the lines of that one, just an interlude I know but more of the same please. This time we get the evil pipe organ intro. With Southern Nihilizm the formula has not been fiddled with enough to disappoint the Conqueror fans out there. Don’t pick favorite songs, pick favorite ideas, like the buzzing guitar in “Halo of Fliez” or the repeated twang of the strings accompanied by the helicopter rotor like drum sequence, or the roars four minutes into “5 Chambers Empty.” I also like the casual pace of “Pills and 90 Proof” and the bass drum at the beginning of “War, Whiskey, Sodomy.”

Great old style pleaser, skip at your peril. Would Moribund steer you wrong? Grab your guitar and your whisky and play along.

[Visit the band's website]

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