Dominance – Slaughter of Human Offerings in the New Age of Pan

Putrid Cult keeps on constantly surprising me with one after another killer release from this Polish based label. This time is no exception, as Polish black metallers Dominance released their sensational eight-tracker debut entitled Slaughter of Human Offerings in the New Age of Pan (awkward, impressive and pretty long title?!) just a few months ago.

As soon as it landed on my doorstep, I knew that I could expect only good things from this band. Speaking of the band, it’s currently a trio, consisting of Impaler (bass/vocals), Hellcult (guitars) and Witchfucker (drums). Despite of Slaughter of Human Offerings in the New Age of Pan being their debut, the band is actually composed of experienced musicians as they have experience of composing music for bands Mörtalist and Raped Christ before joining forces together in Dominance.

The album opener “Carnage” is already a perfect example of what this band is all about, setting the pace for the rest of the album with powerful presence and hellish ride of app. thirty minutes of a raw and primitive mix of black and thrash metal. Although Slaughter of Human Offerings in the New Age of Pan is mainly a fast-paced album, it is also complemented with some melodies typical of the genre. This is esp. heard clearly in tracks called “Deadly Winter” and “Human Holocaust”. Another thing these two tracks have in common is a more visible presence and role of the bass. Next stand-out track in my opinion is “Vicious Circles” again with very heavy guitar presence, strong bass line, torturing drums and suffocating & brutal vocals. From the speedy drum ill to the furious riffing to the blazing tempo, the band continues with a relentless pace, ending in an explosive crescendo of the closing “Carnage”.

Now a few words on the biggest pros of this record; it’s about the vocals and I think Impaler on vocals is a true monster. He has a great vocal range and adds so much volume to the overall sound of the band and how the lyrics content jumps off the tracks. He adds aggression, intensity, grit, and demonic atmosphere to every single song and to every performance of Dominance.

The overall sound and production is raw yet sublime, where it’s taken care of every detail. It’s really a killer sound that one can actually enjoy (Haldor Grunberg at ‘Santa Studio’ in Warsaw). The same really goes for the cover art. There’s nothing like the power of a an image/cover art, it speaks silently in multiple ways and it has the ability to create different emotion. The one created here by band’s drummer, Witchfucker, is both warlike and very hilarious too.

This is definitely a crazy ride from the opening “Battlefield” straight to hell of the grand finale “Carnage”. In other words; Slaughter of Human Offerings in the New Age of Pan is a wealthy mosaic of emotions and states. Ethereal atmosphere, the immense creativity, and the artistic character ensues an extreme metal treasure. It feels dangerous and mystical at the same time. It’s pure nihilism, death, filth, darkness, coldness, hatred & an overall dull and depressive atmosphere. Quite fitting to put this record on repeat considering a great amount of snow and temperatures way below zero here in the Norhern Europe.

I won’t exaggerate to say that Dominance delivers something completely new and groundbreaking to the genre, but they’ve created an authentic and well composed album they can be very proud of. Esp. recommended for worshippers of good old nordic black metal sound and acts as Dark Funeral, Marduk, 1349, Behemoth etc.

For any further info on this particular debut go to https://dominancepoland.bandcamp.com/album/slaughter-of-human-offerings-in-the-new-age-of-pan or https://www.putridcult.pl/ for all the other killer releases from Putrid Cult label.