There is a very long and dark history of Satanism within Black Metal that is very well documented (for the most part at least) and is pretty much synonymous with the genre. It comes as no surprise then when you hear a new Black Metal band that are drenched in so much Satanic imagery that you'd be forgiven for thinking you were sitting in one of Anton Lavey's ante-chambers.

I love Black Metal as much as the next sociopath but sometimes I wonder if the bands are really behind it. BLOODLUST are a perfect example of the doubts that I sometimes have.

Their website reads like something my 14 year old self would have made on Myspace. The menu items are listed as; Origin Of Pain - Blood Chronicle - Satanic Battle Hymns - Paths To Chaos - Invoke The Beast - Armoury. I think the question I have over all of this is exactly how passionate they are about all of this. Do they perform sacrifices and sex magick rituals? Do they ever invoke lesser demons to help them achieve mundane everyday goals? I certainly hope so because if not then there is something strange about putting this much effort into sounding so dark and edgy. It could almost be misconstrued as marketing.

Image is only only side of the coin (although quite a large it would seem) and they have clearly mastered the other side. Their first full length album "Cultus Diaboli" is a 10 track romp through the realm of Black Thrash. That may sound like something you'd find at a KKK meeting but it seems like the most appropriate way to smash two genres together.

They play it hard and fast, there is no time for mystical forests and the atmosphere you'll find with a lot of European Black Metal. In place of this they have opted to just dive straight into the apocalyptic ball smashing fury that you would expect from any good Thrash band. It is impressive that music of this calibre has been made by two people and I'm always impressed with the Black Metal duo's that seem to exist.

The overall production of the album is spot on and I don't think they could have really asked for more. The sound is crisp and you can hear every minute detail in there. Sadly there isn't a massive amount of variance in the songs throughout so it can get a little generic at points.

All in all this is a very well made album, it balances just the right amount of Black with Thrash to fit nicely in between both genres. I'm not convinced of their devotion to Satan but if I'm honest I don't know if many modern bands are as behind it as they say. I can't remember the last time I heard of a good old fashioned Black Metal murder/sacrifice/ritual in the news.