When the calendar turns from one year to the next, after all the end of year posts have run, the attention quickly turns to the album that will bring in the new year. After obsessing over twelve months of music only a week ago, it becomes a moment of excited anticipation and renewed curiosity for upcoming releases. When I examined the albums slated to drop in the early stages of 2016, my attention immediately fell the debut full-length album from Vancouver’s Hostium. Consider it a case of judging a book by its cover, but Drinking the Bloodwine of Satan was an album I had high expectations for. And for the most part, the quality contained within these passages are undeniable. Yet, at the same time, the potential Hostium evidence early does not feel fully realized.

To start from the beginning, Drinking the Bloodwine of Satan opens impressively with “Through the Realms of Oblivion.” The hollow chants and doom-driven instrumentals slowly build up the sound in a truly memorable manner. It readily captivates an audience’s attention as the understanding that something truly massive is about to emerge from these opening moments. And as the dry yet upbeat percussion works its way in, offering a dynamic interplay with the guitars and vocals, the raw ferocity of Hostium’s sound immediately takes fold. It is a display of pure, authentic black metal filled with bleakness and hatred. After the slow buildup and the blistering final few minutes of the track, the opener is, what we hope to be, a clear indication of the level of ingenuity applied to organic black metal that will be contained in the subsequent tracks.

Yet as we move through “Holy Spirit of Satan”, the sound becomes a bit more generic in both sound and feel. Repeating rhythm passages are utilized with the blast beats and tremolo picking we have become familiar with over the years in such a genre. The sound becomes a bit more bass-heavy and the relationships between rhythm and lead becomes less intricate. What does help the album along, however, are the changes in pace in the middle tracks. More melodic elements on “Bloodwine Chalice” featuring tasteful leads and eventually some solo work take Hostium’s take on black metal a bit further, and is an element that freshens up this particular album nicely. This, coupled with the return of the more lively drum patterns and varying vocal styles — which go from standard howls to choir chants to half-spoken growls readily — make tracks like “Arcane Deathwomb” stand out.

However, by the time we reach the final third of the album, Hostium’s sound becomes almost too apparent. The creativity and initial darkness that captivated us in the early stages of the album aren’t as prevalent. At this point, the raw production and standard black metal instrumental work becomes too familiar and focus begins to wane. Again, as I mentioned in the beginning, there is no denying the quality in musicianship or even song-writing. It’s the creativity that lacks in these stages. Fortunately, the closing track, “Thirst for Destruction/Heathen Burial” ends things on a high note. The varying paces and deliberate sections bring back the doom and gloom that opened the album leaving us with a complete work that is bookended brilliantly.

Drinking the Bloodwine of Satan is an album that I absolutely wanted to fully enjoy and immerse myself in. While the opening moments, and opening tracks, were certainly strong, those introductory stages were never built upon as successfully as they could have been. This is raw, organic, hateful black metal filled with more over-the-top titles than you could ever dream of (which is a good thing). Any fan of black will find a number of things to enjoy about this album. But at the end of the day, I can’t help but wish Drinking the Bloodwine of Satan was just a bit more.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– Corey

Drinking the Bloodwine of Satan will be out January 11th on Iron Bonehead Productions. For more information on Hostium, visit the band’s official Facebook page.