Review Summary: Oh Satan I love thee....
Let me just start off by saying this, Judas Iscariot has never gotten the love that he (one man band) deserves. Lone member Akhenaten formed the band in 1992 making Judas Iscariot one of the earliest and pioneering bands in the USBM scene along with bands like Leviathan and Xasthur and some others. That being said, he has never gotten the acclaim of a band like Leviathan and has always flown under the radar. Of course, the band hasn’t put out any new music in over a decade, until now.
Technically this isn’t really a new album.
An Ancient Starry Sky was originally recorded in 1998 but was shelved for reasons that I’m honestly not quite sure of. Whatever the case may be, it’s here now and let me warn you now this album is not for the faint of heart. Judas Iscariot is a raw black metal band. Their production will hurt your ears. Those are facts. But if you’re a seasoned black metal fan this album is everything you could hope for. The buzzsaw riffs are hypnotic, melodic and trance inducing. They weave in an out in between the fuzzy yet perfect production. The drumming is relentless 98% of the time with ice cold blasts from the depths of hell as if Satan himself was behind the kit.
Akhenaten has released several albums under the Judas Iscariot moniker but this album is starting to stand above the others. I don’t know if it’s the appeal of it being unearthed after 20 years or if it’s just the fact that this is the most relentlessly evil that he’s ever sounded. Maybe it’s a combination of both. Either way,
An Ancient Starry Sky is a top tier black metal album of 2018 because it epitomizes everything that this genre should be about. If that doesn’t make you want to grab a beer and jam out then I don’t know what will.
