Over the past few years, NYC has developed a reputation for spitting out black metal that falls squarely on the arty side of things, thanks largely to the misadventures of Hunter Hunt-Hendrix and his ego-vehicle Liturgy (burst beats! manifestos! oh, jeez!), as well as the epic-length Weakling-isms (now with a gazillion more notes!) of Krallice.  I know full well that it isn’t exactly fair, especially for an outsider such as myself, to judge the Big Apple’s black metal output based on the exploits of just two bands, but that doesn’t stop Mutilation Rites’ Empyrean from coming off like the pulverizing, nuclear-powered alternative to the somewhat pretentious NYCBM that ignited a hipster hunt throughout the internet metal ghetto.
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