Extinction Event
Legion Blotan
Extinction Event is a four song EP released by Blind Spite in September of 2014. Overall I can say it’s among the better crossovers between brutal death metal and cult black metal I have experienced in some time. The band tune their string instruments down to A so the material contains its depth and heaviness; in addition much of the song structure and production resonates with bands like Fimbulwinter and Belketre in terms of the abrasiveness and shredding vocals on the table. The result is an EP that demonstrates what death/black crossover should have been in the 1990s, sans the mainstream friendliness that would attract bandwagon jumpers who think they are sticking it to the man but supporting the man’s exploitation of the genre. At a time when fans of extreme music were still fighting over which subgenre is truer, those fans were missing the potential of exploring the aspects of both that fit well and create something new and inventive. Musically Blind Spite makes no secret of their position in the grand scheme; this is apparent from how the title song assaults you with almost no preliminaries. Within this chaos is a sci-fi element that vaguely reminded me of Voivod in some cases. Generally speaking this element fits the crossover described above and adds to the band’s original formula. All this is intended as a backdrop for their lyrical diatribes of the human condition, and the progressions in the four tracks reflect their message in a way that will remain with you long after the EP concludes. -Dave Wolff