ALBUM REVIEW: Blight Year – Anti-God Hand

ANTI-GOD HAND – the moniker adopted by Vancouver-based multi-hyphenate Will Ballantyne – has long concerned himself with the state of the world, as we all should. But following one particularly eye-opening summer in 2021 that was “very brutal… climate-wise, bear-wise, money-wise“, his cosmic black metal project provided the perfect outlet to let loose his frustrations with life, the universe and everything. Despite all of that, this is actually a very optimistic record.

For his second album Blight Year, the largely-one-man-band has enlisted the drumming services of LITURGY’s Greg Fox and allowed Colin Marston (KRALLICE, GORGUTS, PANOPTICON) to handle engineering, resulting in ANTI-GOD HAND‘s fullest sounding work to date. That added human element gifts a levity and emotion that evaded debut album Wretch. As a result, tracks like Barge Of Light become wonderfully MØL-esque, pairing searing black metal screams with uplifting and affecting post-metal melodies. As the track swells to its cataclysmic crescendo, you are tossed about like a ragdoll in the eye of this sonic tornado, pondering both the beauty and brutality and how the two coexist so fittingly here. A suitable metaphor for life in the 21st century.

But this is a tough record – and band – to pigeonhole. Opener Out Of The Tunnels, Into The Heavens starts out with a rich synthscape before it bursts at the seams and unleashes a tidal wave of intense vocals and pummelling riffs upon you, while Demon Sniper takes a turn into CONVERGE levels of math-tinged bombast with Ballantyne shrieking his bile as if his life depends on it over writhing guitar lines and machine gun drumming.

Without a burning church or an over-saturated black and white forest in sight, ANTI-GOD HAND specialises in black metal with an enchanting difference. There’s a warmth within the music that underpins the ice cold vocals that will have you returning time and time again.

But as refined as some tracks can be, ANTI-GOD HAND shows that he knows how to let the monster out. The apocalyptic Chasocene Hell is a five-minute thrill ride that thrashes and cavorts like a damned soul possessed, lashing out in every direction with a calculated malice that truly shines a light on Ballantyne‘s disdain for the ways of the world. The Horde At The End Of Language is a short, sharp burst of unyielding fury that sees Fox lash his drums as if he’s punishing them for the world’s abysmal state and features a hypnotic guitar line that never lets up the intensity. 

Blight Year is both the sound of a band that knows exactly what they’re about, and – somewhat oxymoronically – the sound of a band pushing out to discover new directions. Ballantyne‘s braveness and willingness to explore new realms and configurations is absolutely ANTI-GOD HAND‘s crowning glory. This is not an easy album to listen to, not in terms of its subjective content nor its harsh execution, but it does make for essential listening, whether you’re a fan of cosmic black metal, are concerned by the climate and cost-of-living crises, need to vent any other frustrations, or all of the above.

Rating: 8/10

Blight Year is out now via American Dreams Records.

Follow ANTI-GOD HAND on Bandcamp.