What is told here, is the truth within you, me, all of us; which no one can see, or hear, but deep inside, one can feel that it’s breathing, watching every minute we walk this earth in darkness.
First a personal manifest. As mentioned a six hundred and sixty five times before, and I’ll repeat it once more: Concreteweb focuses on dark-edged Aural Art in the first place. It’s an independent webzine that writes about sonic efforts, not about politics.
Yet then again, I am a human being (I really am after all) with an own opinion; that’s why I often want to dedicate a specific review to a person, to a band, a situation, a thought, or to an event that is happening right now. So, this one is for those who suffer for being born on the wrong place or in a wrong era, and, as well, for those who combat against hypocrisy, greed, useless destruction and oppressive governments all over our lost planet. We all have to redeem our existence…
This said…
Ardawahisht Kollective is a family of musicians from Persian soil, formed by Harpag Karnik (Menakeret, Erancnoir, Forelunar etc.). It exists as an ideological collective, gathering bands and projects that share a same vision, based on Zoroastrianism, focusing on transcendental inner travel and historic truth. One of the members involved is Tehran-born Nihil Satan aka Aneraxt. Once active as Xvarmart, this project evolved into a mostly uncompromising, merciless act of, as the core member labels it, a Persian Warpunk Attack. Who am I to discuss this fitting identity.
The newest effort by this quite productive one-man battalion is called Democide Aftermath, and it defines this guy’s intolerant vision on society. This testament of mass slaughter is another critical outlet on what’s happening right now in Iran: repression and terror from the inside, and both ignorance and hypocrisy at the outside. It’s sad, it’s true. This anger, this frustration, this frenzy, it gets canalized through Aneraxt’s sonic expressions, with Nihil Satan offering Noise and Testament; as said, it is a Warpunk attack.
The artwork says it all: a picture that shows cleaning workers, washing confronting pools of blood from the streets; it’s the aftermath of a mass slaughter, the result of a democide execution by the authoritative troops of a repressive regime, after the (mainly peaceful) protests of January 8th. Hundreds, probably thousands of (innocent) people were ruthlessly killed; massacred for their urge of freedom and their right for self-determination. It’s not A.I.; it’s reality, it did happen, and it’s still happening. This incident is one thing we cannot tolerate. Another intolerable aspect is the silence of those who watch, of those who know, and of those who look the other way. Quote: the world remained silent / the world accused us / the world deserves to suffer for that… We’re all victims, we’re all responsible…
As from the beginning (more specifically: 2023’s EP Face Of Annihilation), the ‘Music’ of Aneraxt (which means ‘redeemed’, by the way, in Pahlavi language) used to be a filthy, barbaric form of Black War Metal with a sense of Punk in it. Well, Democide Aftermath is comparable, yet it’s even rawer, even more chaotic, boisterous and noisy; hence the infuriated malice - an evolution that started with the No Title They Killed More Than 12,000 Thousands In 4 Days EP.
Introduction To Democide is a short opening sequence, offering a grim lullaby of Black Noise Wall, a Death Industrial laden periphrasis of what ‘democide’ means. It’s a rough opener, yet insurmountable for sure. Two-Day Death Toll 40k then again returns to this project’s elementary essence: grooving Black Punk nastiness, like legendary Amebix un-sweetly malformed into archaic proportions. The end is surprising, that volcanic eruption of apocalyptic disfiguration, Wall Noise elegance… Executioner Democracy then again is a blasting Black / War anti-anthem, industrial in perspective and execution, like Mysticum being molested by Funeral Of God. Democide Unfolding then again returns to severe eras of extreme Power Violence, nihilistic / annihilating Noise Terror, blackened and industro-electronic in nature. Mass Kill Documentation might initially be more ‘melodious’ in execution (for what it’s worth), yet it is at least as blasting and blackened, with an approach so hallucinating, mechanoid, grinding and offending… Blood Asphalt Concrete then again returns to the Punk Anarchy Black essence, mingling a sense of Amebix / Saw Throat predominance with archaic Anarcho-Black Punk sweetness. The short Vermin To The Cause interlude offers purest industrial grime (in its most fair core), while the last piece, Warpunk Supremacy, focuses on the purest essence of blackened elegance; this track being a paragon of timeless obscure-sonic extremity, a dexterous execution of both harmonious elegance and boorish severity.
No left, no right - no below, no high - no center or extreme; just fondle the white dove of sonically obnoxious, rebellious anarchy. Democide Aftermath might be the sound-score for revolution…
https://aneraxt.bandcamp.com/album/democide-aftermath
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/menakeret
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/forelunar
https://ardawahisht.com/catalog/