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AYAT
Six Years of Dormant Hatred
(Moribund Cult)


You could live in a fucking cave and still know that the middle east is a violent, troubled place. Few places have felt the chaos more than Lebanon, once the jewel of the Mediterranian, now a nation ravaged by civil war, invaision, and more fucked-up shit than most of us can imagine. One has to wonder...if a place as nice to live in as say, Sweden, can bring us some of the darkest sounds imanginable, what would extreme metal from a place like Lebanon sound like?

Well, AYAT is here to show us what it sounds like, and it sounds bloody awesome! "Six Years of Dormant Hatred", their most recent album, has been unleashed upon an unsuspecting western world like an explosion of blasphemous rage. An equal opportunity offender, they lead off with "Ilahiya Khinzir! (All Hail Allah the Swine)...now, for those of you unfamiliar with Islam, comparing Allah with a pig (which is considered unclean) is enough to earn just about anybody a YouTube beheading faster than you can say Jihad (no wonder the band's promo photo is in sillouette)!!

Their sound, while black as all hell, is also inventive, blending bits of cheesy western culture (like some swing music samples), Arabic rants, crowd hysteria (and not the kind you get from a concert audience!) with their songs to create a uniquely disturbing, yet facinating, aural landscape. They also understand the idea of a fucking groove, and aren't just blasting the listener to the point of, well, pointlessness. When they blast, it's for a reason, and extremely effective. The vocals are unrepentantly brutal, but without getting whiny...think early Celtic Frost, and you're close. As a matter of fact, I think fans of classic Celtic Frost (I'm thinking To Mega Therion-era) will love this album!

They also have some of the best song titles I've seen in a long time: "Collective Suicide in the Boudoir (Feeling Wonderful Tonight)", "Puking Under Radiant Moonlight (Followed by a Century Long Ejaculation)", and, perhaps a discription of Lebanese youth, "Thousands of Pissed Motherfuckers...". Ending things up with the dirge-like "Such a Beautiful Day! (The Exaltation of Saint Francis)" is a perfect way to sew up a fantastic album.

For fans of Impaled Nazarene, Mystifier, Root, and Beherit, "Six Years of Dormant Hatred" is a must! Hell, for fans of inventive, experemental extreme metal, this is an absolute must!!! The Heathen Hippy gives it four multicultural curses!

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