Tsatthoggua - Hallelujah Messiah (2020)

Unleashing the most depraved release of 2020, today we have the return of Germany’s Tsatthoggua with their compilation mCD “Hallelujah Messiah”. As one of those bands that marked your youth thanks to their album covers and bizarre lyrics, we never would have expected the band to come back after more than 20 years of silence. If you are ready for a nostalgic dose of old-school Black/Thrash Metal with a knack for BDSM, check out this release.

Starting with material from the band’s 1995 demo “Siegeswille”, the remastered versions presented in this release capture the band’s raw and punishing style while allowing the songs to sound updated and crystal clear. The gaudy keyboards of “The Belief - The Lie” (and the rest of the first 5 songs) is one of the elements that shows the band’s uniqueness as not just an appearance gimmick, but rather an experimental outfit. Tracks like “Heirs of Fire” capture that old-school timeless Immortal-style of BM which is furious and yet melodic enough for some headbanging sessions.

One of the band’s anthems, “Niemals geboren”, is presented in one of its rawest forms and delivers a sickening Black/Death Metal atmosphere. With tons of bands putting a considerable effort to sound as raw as “Intrude Into Immortality” and the crushing “Worm of Sin”, this band was slated to be one of the pioneers of the German BM scene back in the day. Taken from the “German Black Metal” EP, which was the last recording of the band, “Status Stürmer” delivers a bit of a more polished sound with a different guitar distortion but a similar all-out-war approach with blistering drumming and superbly hellish vocals.

Closing with the ravaging “Courtesan Mary Slut”, many people won’t even know that the song was made over 20 years ago. The return of North Wind and company is definitely one of the highlights of 2020, as a band that had too much promise but just disappeared we are excited for whatever new music there is to come from this group of sick individuals. If you are a Tsatthoggua nostalgic, Osmose is also re-releasing their earlier LP’s on vinyl to add to your collection.

Label: Osmose Productions

Release: August 28th, 2020

Genre: Black/Thrash Metal

Country: Germany