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The selling point for this, of course, will be that it contains two erstwhile members of spastic mathcore entity Ion Dissonance, which fortuitously went to shit after their departure. The specter of that band’s former self does show up here in all sorts of curious places, from the occasional widdly guitar segue to the hellzapoppin’ bass lines that leap from the equally pristine mix in excitable fashion. Vatican’s empirical sound is one of committed black ‘n’ roll ala Phazm or Carpathian Forest, though a bit more well-mannered than either of them. That sticks in my craw intermittently when listening to this five-song debut, because B’n’R should have a bit more grit under its nails than these Canadian practitioners are willing to display at present. As well, there’s a slightly vestigial hardcore groove to this thing that will have to be reconciled by the band or myself at some later stage, lest contentious horns lock. With that said, everything about this one exudes confidence and craft, from the wham-bam-thank-you-goatlord sonic intensity to the cohesive album cover and layout. Voila, instant contenders from up north, righting some of Montreal’s recent metal transgressions.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Paperdolls |
| 2. Hope: You Miserable Fucking Cunt |
| 3. The Nobility |
| 4. Borgian Excesses |
| 5. Dysangile |
: 14:31
| Buy other Vatican albums |
