Kvlt Of Hiob
Thy Kingly Mask

October 2012
Released: 2012, Blut und Eisen
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

Taking their name for the German version of Job, the biblical writer who also served as one of three special advisors to the Egyptian pharaoh and whose complicit silence in the plans to destroy Israel led to his being cursed to a life of suffering to test his love for God – which in turn produced one of the darkest and most complex books of the Old Testament – this debut album from German experimental black metallers Kvlt Of Hiob is a suitably dark and intense opus.



Addressing the madness of Christianity as their main lyrical theme – questioning the faith, as Job did in addressing his relationship with Jehovah, rather than outright opposing it – it is a multi-layered construct. From the sampled opening of a priest whipping a young child for failing to recite ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ properly (not sure what movie that’s extracted from), the broodiness of ‘Witches Wine’ to the brutal beatdown of ‘Theos’, via the dark experimentalism of ‘Abominations Of The Earth’, it’s an album that is as testing as both its inspiration and subject matter, but ultimately rewarding.



My only real complaints are that the drums more often than not sound electronically generated, and Human’s vocals are a bit staid in places. Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of the likes of Dark Throne, Emperor and Marduk, then this definitely will appeal to you!



Review by Mark Ashby