Draconis Infernum are a great example of a classic black metal band, making their music sound as dark and grim as possible, while still using the good old fashion needle like guitar lines and satanic growls and pig squeals. If you have never heard of this band before; then Rites of Desecration and Demise is your best entry point for this band. If you ever wanted satanic black metal at its best, with nothing extra added, then this album is a grim blessing from the dark gods themselves, and they are very pleased with the outcome.

Musically, Rites of Desecration and Demise is your average black metal album, combining all things sinister and evil sounding to make a monster of pure mayhem which is hell bent on decimating your ear canals, and with very evil names tracks like ‘Regime of the Underworld’, ‘Rites of Desecration and Demise’ and ‘Proclamation of Encroachment’ blasting out at 500 decibels from your CD player, you can’t but throw the horns, band your head, and decorate your room with pentagrams all throughout this album.  It’s a killer album to listen to, and will hook you with dark music from the word go!

I know that black metal is not everyone’s cup of tea, but Draconis Infernum will make even the worst of metal cynics enjoy this musical mastery. Singer… I mean satanic spawn Xepher is a killer front man, not only sounding like a grizzly bear ripping open a grandma, but also putting so much emotion, aggression and power behind every note. It’s something to behold and tracks like ‘Vengeance unto Thee’, ‘Chaos Infinity’ and ‘The Grand Conjuration’ sound so big when forced forward through the blast beats, dowtuned, palm muted, distorted guitar riffs and satanic growls.

The album artwork tops this album off, the black cherry on the dark chocolate cake as to say. There is so much going on, all on one album cover. A dude with a scary looking goat thing for a head, an army of skeletons, banners and a naked woman being sacrificed, it’s an amazing album artwork and, it clearly tells the story which goes a long excellently with the songs on this album….. Here goes: A naked woman get’s on the wrong side of Satan, so he gangs together all is Skeleton cronies to help him kill her in a weird way…. Told you it is old school black metal.

In conclusion, Rites of Desecration and Demise sounds like a murder going on in a slaughter factory. Loud, scary and sadistic, and that’s what Draconis Infernum do best. Play and write crushingly brutal black metal that scares the hell out of anyone that listens to them! [9/10]