Unholy and Unlimited

Black metal purists Tangorodrim believe in the power of vinyl, on which a limited number of 666 copies of their Unholy and Unlimited album were pressed, with no plans for a CD version anytime soon. Hailing from Israel, of all places, they also believe in the power of absolute primitivism, taking the low road of heavy metal de-evolution in a bid for the sort of sonic infamy which bred underground metal heroes like Venom, Hellhammer, and Bathory before them. As such, with its distinctly lo-fi production values, Unholy and Unlimited is one of those "love it if you want to make yourself love it" propositions — it's so bad it's great! Mrakobes' tortured barks sound less frightening than funny, and technical execution is consistently kept to a frill-free minimum. And yet, even amidst such purposeful chaos, one encounters some damn good riffing in inspired head-bangers like "Patrol of Death," "Priestkiller," and "Figures." In other words, Tangorodrim have all the makings of the above cited anti-legends of metal, whose seemingly humble, fault-filled creations were later vindicated as hugely influential, making utter fools of initially dismissive journalists. And who would dare make that mistake? — ha! — a contradiction in every sense of the word, Tangorodrim's legendary status, therefore, already seems ensured.