Bestial Warlust

Australia is home to some legendary black metal bands of renown. Extreme bands like Hobbs Angel of Death and Slaughter Lord paved the way for the modern death and black metal scenes, and Sadistik Exekution and Anatomy laid the foundation for black metal bands to come. One group that rose through the ranks at roughly the same time as those bands was Melbourne's BESTIAL WARLUST.

Initially forming as Corpse Molestation in 1990, these Aussie madmen put their own unique spin on the tradition of adopting metal stage names. Instead of demon names or evil-sounding names, they took a more tongue-in-cheek approach and chose names like "K.K. Warslut" and "Marcus Hellcunt".

Check out their 1992 demo, Descension of a Darker Deity

In their few years as Corpse Molestation, they only ever released a handful of demos. Their sound can best be described as a brutal black metal with heavy death metal influences. It wouldn't be a stretch to compare it to say, Blasphemy or even Beherit.

But after achieving some moderate underground success, they decided to change their name. They felt they would get pigeon-holed as some kind of necrophilia-obsessed gore metal band, à la Cannibal Corpse, if they stuck with their original  name.

From 1994's Vengeance War 'til Death, this is "Storming Vengeance"

As the newly-renamed Bestial Warlust, they signed a multi-album deal with Modern Invasion Records. The result was two of the most important black metal albums in the history of the Australian scene.

"Barbaric Horde" comes from their second--and final--studio album, Blood & Valour

Listening to Sadistik Exekution's oeuvre and Bestial Warlust's two studio albums, one can hear the beginnings of what can be characterized as an 'Australian style' of black metal: chaotic thrash-style riffing; raw speed; ghastly, screamed vocals. This style is still evident today in some of Bestial Warlust's successor bands, like Deströyer 666 and Gospel of the Horns.

Select Discography:

as Corpse Molestation:

Rehearsal (demo) (1991)

Descension of a Darker Deity (demo) (1992)

Promo '93 (demo) (1993)

as Bestial Warlust:

Vengeance War 'Til Death (full-length)  (1994)

Blood & Valour (full-length)  (1995)

Next time: SACRAMENTUM

Anatomy

Aside from Sadistik Exekution, another foundational Australian extreme metal band is ANATOMY.  From the suburbs of Melbourne, they formed in 1989.  In sharp contrast with SadEx, they played a more brutal death metal-influenced style.  Their early material--demos like 1991's Dark Religion and 1992's For Those Whose Eyes Are Black--showcases the death metal elements of their music rather heavily.

"Carrion of Jesus" is from 1992's For Those Whose Eyes Are Black

With 1993's Twisting Depths of Horror EP, Anatomy's sound clearly matured, but they could still be described as a black/death hybrid.  With riffage calling to mind developments in the current death metal scene, as well as some of the old-school 1980s black metal bands, Anatomy was neither and both.

From the 1993 EP

In 1996, Anatomy put out a full-length album, Where Angels Die.  This was followed by 1999's The Witches of Dathomir.  On these albums, their sound moved away from a brutal black/death sound to a more overt and straight-forward black metal style.  1996's Angels featured sprawling, majestic black metal soundscapes with hints of death metal and brutality; 1999's Witches featured a rawer black metal sound.

Note the difference from the earlier material

Anatomy broke up around the turn of the millenium (2001? 2002?), but many of their members have been or are currently involved in other prominent extreme metal bands from Australia, such as Hobbs Angel of Death, Gospel of the Horns, and Bestial Warlust.

A pretty cool promo pic of the band

Select Discography:

Dark Religion (demo) (1991)
For Those Whose Eyes Are Black (demo) (1992)
Twisting Depths of Horror EP (1993)
Where Angels Die (full-length) (1996)
The Witches of Dathomir (full-length) (1999)

Next time:  VON