Pagan, Melbourne’s fastest growing underground cult, have come out full guns blazing and aiming straight for the throat on their debut full-length Black Wash. If you’re a bit unsure about the idea of taking in some “blackened rock ‘n’ roll”, the uninitiated need look no further than lead single ‘Death Before Disco’; any band willing to swing so effortlessly between black metal blast beats and four-to-the-floor disco feels without sacrificing an inch of the savagery is a band after my own heart. From there, it gets darker and weirder, offering up AC/DC grooves and hardcore howls before closing off with the amazing ‘Il Malocchio Si Chiude’. Who doesn’t love a good book-ending?
Hard rock enthusiasts might find some of the harsher elements a bit challenging, and all those grim, kvlt Black Metal kids might straight up hate it (don’t worry, they’re incapable of love), but for the rest of us, Black Wash is a thick, dark, dank, and downright necessary breath of fresh air for these crusty old blackened lungs. If you’re not that into “the metal” but you like yourself a bit of grit, make a point to hear this. For the rest of us, mass is in session – I’ll meet you at the confessional.
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