A lot of bands claim the banner of true Black Metal. KROD hasn't made such boastful claims and they really don't need to . . . because when you embody something, it becomes self-evident and needs no proclamation. But just to be clear, KROD is true fucking Black Metal. Hailing from Melipilla, Chile, KROD clawed its way out of the darkwell of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Zabulus Valtakunta and found its way to three releases (one EP and two full-length albums) in 2021 alone. The second LP, "Rotten Gods Burn in the Abyss of Serpents," was issued December 10, 2021 via Kvlt und Kaos.

Some backstory on Zabulus: Melipilla is the capital city and a province in Chile. Its name translates to "four Pillans"-four spirits responsible for disasters, droughts, and floods. When your hometown is essentially named after demons, it has a way of sinking in. Not to say that all 108,000 inhabitants of this city have the essential drive to form Black Metal projects. I mean it takes a bit more . . . like a stint in a mental institute and accusations of false sexual abuse and a basic abhorrence for religions, including the institute of the Satanic church. Put all that together and then we start to get some traction.

Musically, KROD (an acronym for "kill, rape, or die") is a pure, raw hellscape with painfully lo-fi engineering, a fogbank of riffs and tremolo and blast beats, banshee vocals, and lyrics wrought of hatred and utter disdain for humanity. While Zabulus is a passable musician, I think he stands out the most as a vocalist. He has said he felt possessed during parts of the recording, and it certainly comes through in his vocal performance on tracks like "Kill the Fucking Priest" and "Succubus Rape the Heaven." For his guitar work, check out "From the Cave" and "Gas Chamber New" for some his better samples of visceral yet melodic tremolo.

All in all, "Rotten Gods Burn in the Abyss of Serpents" is a solid specimen of putrefied Black Metal. And I mean that in the best of ways. SWBM fans should really enjoy this release. Zabulus himself credits much of the album to Satan, so what more endorsement do you need? This is a solid 6.66.