Typically, January is a bit of a dry month for metal. It’s a long month and no one has any spare cash after Christmas, so labels typically tend to wait until February or March to release a record to improve those critical first week sales. But what a month January 2017 is turning out to be – Kreator are on the cusp of releasing their magnificent fourteenth opus Gods of Violence, Aussie game-changers Aversion Crown are about to drop their incredible sophomore album, Sepultura, Firewind and Grave Digger are all releasing new albums, and even in the underground unsung heroes Maze of Sothoth and Nyktophobia are releasing their debuts this month. And, to round it all off, Italian death metal titans Hour of Penance have their long-awaited seventh album, Cast the First Stone, dropping as well.
Cast the First Stone, which is unleashed upon us all on the 27th of January, is the Italian hellraisers third release through Prosthetic Records. Despite being a touch overdone in extreme metal, Hour of Penance have never shied away from writing songs critical of religion – and of course Christianity, being the most prominent religion in their part of the world, bore the brunt of their attack. What is refreshing, however, is the opening track from Cast the First Stone – “XXI Century Imperial Crusade.” In a world where everyone appears terrified to criticize Islam, Hour of Penance have fired some shots at Islamic extremism in the lyrics of this track. Notice the word extremism – despite what some publications will try and tell you, Hour of Penance are have not written a Trump-endorsed, anti-Muslim piece of extreme metal bigotry. Hour of Penance are not saying “Muslims are bad, oh how lucky we are to be a Western society!” “XXI Century Imperial Crusade” is a hate-fueled shot at the fundamental extremists that are terrorizing the Middle East, and to read into the song as Islamophobic would be a gross misunderstanding of what the band are saying. No idea is above criticism, and there is a very distinct difference between criticizing an idea and showing hatred to each individual that follows said idea. When compared to the devoutly anti-Christian lyrics of any given Deicide track, “XXI Century Imperial Crusade” is actually pretty moderate.Musically, the track absolutely destroys and kicks off a strong release in a brutal way with punishing riff-work and an outstanding vocal delivery.
Throughout Cast the First Stone, listeners are treated to a devastating brutality – fans of Hour of Penance know exactly what to expect from the band. Hour of Penance pull no punches – there is no soft interludes, overtly proggy passages or melodic turns to ease up on the sonic annihilation, every moment of Cast the First Stone is rooted in absolute evisceration. Though the band have injected a bit more melody into their sound in this album, Cast the First Stone is by no means melodic – just a little more hooky, perhaps a bit more accessible, and definitely more mature sounding than their back catalogue. The flourishes of melody in the riffs help the almost unending brutality become less exhausting and more fun to listen to.
Though a couple of tracks on the first half of Cast the First Stone seem to merge together in a flurry of hard-hitting riffs, blast-beats and demonic vocals, the second half is entirely made upof gems. “Chains of Misdeed” kicks off the punishment with up-tempo blasting and precise riffing, with some melodic lead passages thrown in to get the track stuck in your head. A double whammy then comes in with two of Cast the First Stone’s finest tracks – the unrelentingly heavy “Horn of Flies,” and catchier, more groove-focussed “Shroud of Ashes.” The strongest song on Cast the First Stone is without a doubt “Wall of Cohorts.” With a healthy mix of super-fast blasting, and slower, devastating riff work, “Wall of Cohorts” is the most memorable track, and the sinister atmosphere created by the occasional melodies drive it from a strong track into a brilliant one.
Standing as the quartet’s most mature album to date, Hour of Penance have taken their patented brand of death metal and refined it into a Behemoth-meets-Morbid Angel mashup of technical, shreddy and brutalizing excellence. Cast the First Stone is as unrelenting as it is enjoyable, showcasing a masterclass in extreme metal musicianship for the new generation.