Xalpen – Sawken Xo On Review

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It’s been some time we haven’t received such a vicious and cruel effort as Xalpen “Sawken Xo On” where the ferocity and wraith called immediately the attention of the fan at the very first minutes of its opening track “Devourer of Light,” which by the way, is a blast. “Sawken Xo On” has that amazing mix of raw and straight ahead sound with some modern features of Black Metal. The album that makes the fan reminds immediately what Metal music is all about: power, glory, fury, and musical chaos and madness. Xalpen are the kind of band that knows how to create a frantic and sick atmosphere. The drumming cadence is simply breathtaking and full of those crazy fillings that only Old School Black Metal drummers can do. The fan will be astonished with the skullcrushing and unstoppable rhythm of the songs of “Sawken Xo On” with all the frenzy it delivers. It’s possible to see the blood spills on the walls with the bonecrushing drumming and the lightinning guitars.

This is the kind of album that every Old School Black Metal fan will cherish. I guess not only Black Metal fans, but also all Metal fans that appreciate a honest and pure sonic carnage when the insane sounds that come from the drums are mixed with the sound of bones being crushed. Add to all that the buzzsaw guitar in “Tres Chamanes (Sawken Xo’on)” and you’ll have the perfect Black Metal album. It’s like some butchery added to a maniac song writing and performing with the bass lines adding much more power and an even more insane rhythmic session. A rare thing in it is that it’s even possible to understand and singalong with the chorus. The hallucinating mooding and cadencing only ceases a little with the last track “The Formidable Fumes of Hell-Fire” and its cadenced and cool atmosphere. It sounds as if it were antoher completely different band. Make no mistake Xalpen hallucinating DNA is in it undoubtedly. It’s a heavy as hell track with some musical chaos around the fourth minute where the drums and guitars go in a crazy and dazzling rhythm. I guess the word euphoria describes pretty well what happens in this song.

I recommend “Sawken Xo On” to all Metal fans that appreciate some straight ahead music and no fancy playing. The album is something beyond heaviness and speed. Its intensity makes its music transcend today’s common sense of having more and more complex playing. “Sawken Xo On” is rapid and fast and tight with absolutely no regress.

Xalpen “Sawken Xo On” will be released on August 27th via Black Lodge.

Track Listing:

  1. Devourer of Light
  2. 1340
  3. Dark Nights of Winter
  4. Haw k’win Salk
  5. Among the Pillars of Death
  6. Tres Chamanes (Sawken Xo’on)
  7. The Formidable Fumes of Hell-Fire

Watch “Tres Chamanes (Sawken Xo’on)” official video here: