Review Summary: Do you wish to die?
Damaar are quite possibly one of the most fascinating and enigmatic metal bands of all time. Formed in Beirut in 2004, the Lebanese three piece war metallers cranked out a single ~20 minute demo in 2007 before pulling a vanishing act that would make Houdini jealous. But like so much of Damaar’s history, we’ll probably never know why. In the years since, the members have served as something akin to a black metal incarnation of Elvis or Tupac. There have been rumors that the band’s members have done everything from moving to Australia, to becoming religious zealots and disavowing their band, to perhaps telling Nuclear War Now! not to repress their record.
All that is hearsay though, and quite frankly doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that
Triump Through Spears of Sacrilege is one of the nastiest, noisiest and most utterly unhinged war metal records ever released. This isn’t war metal made by disaffected North Americans, it was born from a country shaped by invasions, civil war and the nearby disintegration of Iraq. The cover photo itself allegedly dates to 1989 in the latter days of the Lebanese Civil War, and the intro track includes audio that may or may not be from a beheading video. The point is the music here matches the grim and cacophonous reality of modern warfare. That pointed reality cuts through loud and clear in the iconic refrain of ‘Do you wish to die?’ on “Preaching for Mass Suicide.” It’s a question that the album begs of all listeners and perhaps serves as a meditation on the seemingly inescapable violence of the band’s time and place.
Musically this album features a pulverizing and discordant style of bestial black metal that's pulled off exceptionally well. The anger and intensity feel extremely real. “Preaching for Mass Suicide” opens with what I can really only describe as an explosion of rage, sonically and emotionally. And it never really lets up for the rest of the record’s brief runtime, it simply takes different forms. On “The Goatphoenix” it morphs into neck-snapping rhythms and even a screech that would make King Diamond proud along with the standard brain-bashing. “Desecration” being a Blasphemy cover, you already know what you’re in for while “Ode to Blasphemy (Onward to the Gates of Mekka)” provides a perfectly dense and vicious closer.
With only three original songs (excluding the intro and a Blasphemy cover), you might be tempted to think that this review is going on a bit long, but you would be wrong. Everything that makes war metal cool and fun and interesting is found here. It’s unrefined and in your face, has killer grooves and walls of sound, an extremely nasty vocal performance and the almighty riffs loom large. If you want to hear one of the most influential war metal albums ever tracked, check out
Triumph Through Spears of Sacrilege.
