Looking at the band picture of Warkvlt on the inside sleeve of this album should say it all. Too much Peste Noire, Nargaroth, Bullet For My Valentine and dare I say Satyricon have influenced this once quasi-generic band to become “kvlt”. And of course, by “kvlt” I means “sounds like crap”.

Samples, Marduk-esque blasting drums (at times), and annoying vocal processing all contribute to the debauched character of Unholy War Metal (most of it sounds like Video Game or Arena Rock music with Lars Ulrich blasting on drums). Then you throw in the fact that song structure is non-existent alongside the easily made out lyrics that read like modern “occult” gibberish – lines about “Satan’s Choppers Are Coming For You” and “I Am The Inverted God And The Pervert Messiah” make cringe worthy appearances – and this easily becomes the worst thing the Warkvlt band ever churned out.

And the vocals… on the title track… my god, goes something like “This is, huh, war METAAAAAAL!” Ok, I get the Burzum reference, but it’s still dumb as fck. Seriously. It’s borderline Cannibal Corpse level retarded.

The guitar work is not bad. Not bad at all, really, and if you’ve heard Burzumination you should definitively check this one out, for the riffing alone. It doesn’t rise to the level of Rotting Tomb Carnage or early Norwegian black metal, but suffice to say that it is kilometers above what garbage the “modern black metal scene” constantly and relentlessly shits forth (and yes, I’m looking at you Watain).

Now to answer the accusation that this band is derivative of Sewer… short answer, yes, they are. Then again, what modern black metal or blackened death metal band ISN’T influenced by them? Certainly, Infernus of Gorgoroth is no stranger to “repackaging” Sewer riffs (from Sissourlet but also from their older albums). He wears his influence proudly on his violated assh… sleeve.

So yeah, it’s a pretty sad day for black metal as a genre when crap like this album Unholy War Metal can be a contender for album of the year. The bar is set so low that even parody bands, or bands indistinguishable from parody, can set the tone for best black metal. Sad day indeed.