Listen to Them, the Children of the Night, That's Not Music They're Making, It's Just Noise (Weapon of Ascension - Allfather)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Weapon of Ascension - Allfather
Date:	12/01/08 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: As unashamedly violent as black metal can get.

Disadvantages: Doesn't encourage newcomers.

'Weapon of Ascension' is the first and, it seems, last album from Canadian death/black metal band Allfather. Combining the most brutal and violent elements of both metal styles with suitably war-torn lyrics, these eleven short songs - all lasting less than the tedious and unreasonable length of three minutes - make for one of the most relentless and aurally offensive albums I own, but in a good way. This is certainly not an album for all people, tastes or times.

The band plays violent death-influenced black metal in the style of Behemoth or the slightly more local Angelcorpse (evidently, America and Canada are the same place in my world view), based entirely around the core instruments without excessive or atmospheric elements from keyboards. Paul Jacobson's blasting drums are the key feature in setting the exhaustive pace and hammering into the listener's head, but the other instruments compensate for this repetition by introducing some really quite interesting and talented deviations, though still confined within fairly narrow musical horizons. Justin Hagberg handles all the guitars on this recording, predominantly running at the same breakneck pace as the drums but frequently slowing or ranging between riffs, but this still isn't something that's going to appeal to casual listeners, even fans of similarly extreme metal genres. Adam Angus' bass is similarly talented and can be heard clearly in the impressive production, and although the vocals lack distinctiveness in sounding exactly the same as all the other aggressive black metal bands, it's a tried and tested formula.

With songs frequently coming in under two minutes long, this isn't the sort of album that engenders specific favourites, but is rather a directed aural assault - I'm damned if I could recall a specific song by name, but then most people who listen to this are likely to be damned anyway. The short length of under thirty minutes seems a little thrifty from a purely quantitative point of view, but it keeps the album tight and focused without any extraneous filler that would have lessened its impact, though in all honesty I doubt I would have been able to discern half-hearted additions from some of the less impressive offerings (perhaps they already did that, and the original album was only fifteen minutes?)

Fans of extreme metal of the most extreme sort should check out these angry Canadians, but for the rest of you, this is unapologetically impenetrable. The lyrics are similarly not going to attract any weak-hearted fans, though they're a little more meaningful and lucid for coming from natural English speakers for a change, even of they are Canadians. I don't have enough anger in my heart to fully appreciate this album, seriously damaging my metalhead credentials, but I'd still be interested in a reform in the future.

1. Evolution to Supremacy
2. Forever Unconquerable
3. Flight into Exile
4. Hail! Tyrants of War
5. Storm Assault
6. Through Ages Wrought
7. Invictus
8. Of Man and Valour
9. Blood and Soil
10. In the Face of Nobility
11. Progeny of Vengeance
12. Path of Glory

Summary: Allfather's only album (2005).