Album Review: Dark Evils Desecrate by Tanin’iver (Morning Star Heresy)

Due for release on the 25th of January, Australian extreme metal outfit, Tanin’iver, bring their fourth album titled Dark Evils Desecrate.

Dark Evils Desecrate is the fourth full length album from Australian entity Tanin’iver, the extreme metal creation of Steve Lillywhite. A year in the making and three years on from the last Tanin’iver album, The Lucifer Effect, Dark Evils Desecrate sees Steve turning his coruscating gaze from the poisonous cess-pit of religion and delivering a bombardment of scathing, acidic vitriol onto humanity’s obsessions with war, violence, intolerance and the brain-sapping curse of social media. Working once more with guitarist Liam Mohor, co-creator of The Lucifer Effect, Steve has carved out a jagged, bleeding monolith of acerbic venom.

Steve Lillywhite’s story has been one of ongoing struggle – fighting against illness and addiction and processing the impact of heart rending loss – but he has harnessed the chaos that has raged around his life and channelled it into music of profound power and impact. Now with the support of label Morning Star Heresy he is ready to unleash Dark Evils Desecrate – an album that meets the grim nature of reality head one and will not back down. Produced, mixed and mastered by Steve, Dark Evils Desecrate will be unveiled on January 25th.

Dark Evils Desecrate features Steve Lillywhite on vocals, rhythm guitars and sampling while Liam Mohor looks after lead guitar and bass.

“The heavenly serpent is a blind prince with name of Tanin’iver…he is the bond, the accompaniment and the union between Samael and Lilith. If he were created whole in the fullness of his emanation he would have destroyed the world in an instant.”
– The Early Kabbalah

Dark Evils Desecrate gets underway with the opening track, Another World’s Hell. We start with a sample, maybe a news broadcast but it contains the line “I warn you, what you are about to hear is very disturbing indeed”. That’s apt. The raw and aggressive onslaught that follows that announcement cuts to the core. Speed riffs and drums with a chunky bass line fill you up before layered demonic vocals start to spit pure venom, at pace. It’s fast, it’s heavy but has a little bit of a groove to it’s rhythym too. There is a traditional black metal feel to it but Tanin’iver expand on that as the song progresses either through that continuous groove line or the small instrumental moments where the lead guitars play out the same riff, just at a higher pitch to create a wonderful layered sound.

Now we know what we are going to get here, Dark Evils Desecrate continues to blast out vicious and violent songs that will give children and parents nightmares. The vocals are filthy, really harsh a little raspy and a bit of a mix of tones. The drums and riffs are wicked, always holding a little touch of rhythm and groove but feeling darkly atmospheric too. Disrepair has a banging flow to it, feeling intense and heavy but an easy headbanger too. Separatist absolutely goes for a full on assault. The drums are going so fast it almost becomes one beat and the vocals are delivered at a frenetic pace. This allows for the perfect contrast to suddenly drop some of the pace and head into a wickedly rhythmic section.

The lead guitars shine in Better The Devil, leading us in atmospherically before that killer beat takes over, and reappear regularly throughout the song to just elevate it and give it moments. Soul Thief utilises the leads well also to just lift the riffs up a bit. Little moments like in the outro to Drowning On Dry Land are excellent as well, just hearing that lead come in, take over the outro and then start to fade out. It’s just a moment, but moments make or break songs. Closing track So Was Red packs tons of groove, even more intensity and aggression but also manages to find time to drop in some stunning lead guitar work as it approaches the end.

Tanin’iver are really delivering a memorable album with Dark Evils Desecrate and there are some really killer tracks. I love how intense and heavy it is yet how it still manages to inject a massive helping of groove and rhythm. As well as every song is crafted, as powerful as the vocals are, I love the beats, the riffs and transitions between different tempos. Freedom is Never Free is probably the track that highlights this the most for me. Just a killer track that you can’t not headbang along too. It transitions into anarchy for a bit before pulling it back to the rhythm again but now with added lead guitars. It’s clever stuff. Soul Thief comes a close second with an absolutely hypnotic intro minute that will please metalheads everywhere.

Dark Evils Desecrate is a top notch release from a talented band. Heavy as hell, aggressive and intense yet still packing a lashing of infectious groove, it’s just really comfortable to listen to. The vocals are powerful and sound great and there is plenty of atmosphere built too. The drums are excellent. There is no drummer credited so I don’t know if this is a session musician or programmed. If this is programmed, I can’t tell which makes it even more impressive as they sound natural. It’s music to headbang to, music to listen to on repeat and pick out different moments. Tanin’iver have really delivered with Dark Evils Desecrate and when a band deliver, the least you can do is give it some time and check it out. You are gonna love it.

Grab yourself a preorder/copy of the excellent Dark Evils Desecrate from Tanin’iver/MSH on Bandcamp, here.

Tanin’iver Links

Bandcamp – Facebook – Instagram – Spotify – YouTube – Apple Music – Morning Star Heresy