LP Review: "Cast The First Stone" by Hour of Penance

Cast The First Stone

Here in the United States, the sentence we have heard over and over is "This is not normal." Donald Trump, soon to be the 45th President of the United States is not normal.

Where we are headed over the course of the next four years is also not normal.

As we are weeks away from the very abnormal coming true, the thing I'm craving most of all is normalcy.

Beef Stew, Ramen, and Hot Dogs will be a large part of my upcoming diet.

One of the things we can count on to fuel a need for normalcy is death metal. Death metal is a monolithic force that's been carrying on for nearly thirty years now. The growls, the blast beats, and the ripping guitar solos. They are what fans of extreme metal, like myself, live for.

"Regicide" by Hour of Penance

About two months ago, when I was being interviewed for NPR, I discovered there was an album forthcoming with the title Regicide.

Just reading the title of that album, I knew that I had to hear it.

Emails were sent, approval was granted, and here we are. The album is by an Italian death metal band called Hour of Penance. Formed in 1999, Hour of Penance has released five previous albums and do not appear to be ready to mellow out.

Death metal has really returned with a vengeance in the current era. Aside from the newer deathcore, hyperdeath, symphonic-hyper-ultra-melodic-thrash-deadly-death metal, there has been a resurgence in American, if not Tampa Bay, style death metal. It warms my heart to see and hear that the extreme metal I grew up with has not been forgotten.