Black Metal bands such as DARK FUNERAL, MAYHEM, and DARKTHRONE have contributed greatly to the genre’s scene in the Scandinavian region. They have also influenced other lesser-known Scandinavian bands such as PERVERTICON. And who is PERVERTICON, you might ask? They are a Black Metal trio from Gävle, Sweden that has been active since 2011. Between then and now, they have released two studio albums: “Extinguishing the Flame of Life” in 2013 and “Wounds of Divinity” in 2019. PERVERTICON’s 2013 album was initially released as a vinyl via English record label Mordgrimm. However, on September 15th, a re-recorded CD version was released by the band through the Mexican record label Personal Records.

“Architecturing Omnicide” is a rapid-fast opener to the album, with the amazing riffs from Uncleanest Invictus and Necrosadistic Elite. Necrosadistic Elite is also responsible for the bass duties on this album, but it sounds like he has the bass rhythms muted against the guitar riffs. As for the drums, they are a whole different story (in a good way). Omnicremationist Supreme mostly uses skank beats along with various double bass patterns on “Architecturing Omnicide.” I will admit that I was initially worried that I wouldn’t hear any of the wonderful blast beats that I love to hear in Black Metal. Those worries evaporated quickly at about 3 minutes into the approximately 5-minute track, when "Omnicremationist Supreme" took me by surprise with a flawless blast beat. This consistently fast tempo by PERVERTICON is continued on the next two songs “Lucis Tuae Radium” and “Delightful Stench of Annihilation.” The fourth track “Saviour of the Dogs” is much slower, with more groovy riffs and drum beats. I wasn’t entirely fond of the tempo drop, but it was no surprise either.

The trio puts the pedal to the Black Metal again on “In Blasphemous Servitude,” whose lyrics take on more of an anti-Christian tone. After an ultrafast “Planetkiller,” the band takes that Groove Metal-style route again with “Hematospermia Hymnal.” Again, I wasn’t a big fan of that, because it just doesn’t quite fit in with the other incredibly fast songs on the album. PERVERTICON does not disappoint on how they close their debut record with “Mass Eradication Crescendo,” though. I also want to note that throughout the 37-minute album, Omnicremationist Supreme–who is not just the drummer but also the vocalist–absolutely nailed his vocal delivery. His tormented, raspy voice was just perfect and absolutely raw.

In closing, “Extinguishing the Flame of Life” was definitely a banger of Extreme Metal. The blast beats, vocals, and guitar riffs evoked heavy influences from Scandinavian Black Metal, specifically from the ‘90s. Honestly, my only complaint of the album were the mid-tempo moments with “Saviour of the Dogs” and “Hematospermia Hymnal.” Otherwise, this debut effort by PERVETICON was nearly perfect, in my opinion. If you’ve got 37 minutes of spare time on your hands, then kindly take my advice and use them towards this album.