The first EP from Greek band CHRISTFUCK is obviously designed to give us a taste of what's to come from this newly formed band. It does this in a big and extremely brutal way, with what could best be described as a throwback to old school or "traditional" black metal bands such as ROTTING CHRIST, of which they have included a cover of one of their songs. CHRISTFUCK gives us exactly what you would expect from a band with such a name, and with an EP named "HellGoat Militia". Its dark, heavy, and full of hate in a way that makes me very excited to hear more of what they will have to offer.

Formed as a sort of project by drummer Yngve, and originally intended to be a one man band, CHRISTFUCK soon recruited guitarist Vulgate, and bassist/vocalist Hel Pyre. Hel Pyre is the major stand out here performance-wise, as the massive amount of guttural power she manages to belt out vocally, is up there with the greats, and enough to make most men in this genre look like weak children in comparison. Most women in metal, who do this style of vocals with the screams or growls, tend to have a much higher pitch than Hel Pyre does, and it's how low and brutal she sounds, that makes her such a perfect fit for such an old-school sounding band.

The way the EP is mixed, seems a tad strange at first, with the guitar and drums being more front and centre than the vocals are, but having the vocals mixed a little more in the background has worked well for metal greats MASTODON, so why not here? It works well with the style that they are going for, and gives us a chance to hear the crazy riffs of Vulgate and the intensity of Yngve, that could have otherwise been drowned out by Hel Pyre's power. As an EP however, there are a few problems as it doesn't give us a chance to see the variety that the band could well have in the future. This is a minor problem though which is honestly expected from and EP that only has four tracks.

The title track "HellGoat Militia" starts us off with exactly what we get from every song here. The riffs are fast and heavy, the lyrics are brilliantly horrid, and the vocals are a beautiful kind of ugly in all the right ways. "Infernal King" is similar in almost every way from the speed and intensity, to the subject matter. "Anima Satanus", was the strongest original song here, as while it sounds much like the others in a lot of ways, it has a little more of a hook to it with the guitar riffs and the short vocal sections before each pause, making it that much more impactful each time the vocals hit. Included as the fourth and final song, is a cover of "Exiled Archangels" by ROTTING CHRIST. They do the black metal greats proud here, with a great rendition that doesn't exactly stray far from the original, but instead just adds their own little spin on it with clearer guitar, and more a more "full" vocal performance. It's a great way to pay homage to one of the original black metal bands of their home country.

So as far as an EP goes, "HellGoat Militia" is a strong entry from CHRISTFUCK, that certainly promises big things. Fans of traditional black metal should definitely give this one a go as it gives us a great taste of things to come. The ONLY reason, that this is not scoring higher, is because there simply isn't enough of it.

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