CoC : Mystifier - Profanus : Review

Mystifier - _Profanus_
(Crash Music, 2003)
by: Jackie Smit (3 out of 10)

To be perfectly frank, I have never been a big fan of Mystifier's retro black/death, and no matter how positively I have tried to approach their latest effort, I doubt that my dislike for them will dissipate any time soon. _Profanus_ showcases a collection of songs more suited to a demo predating 1992. It blends together, with virtually no exception, every single metallic cliché you can possibly imagine, and then somehow manages to spawn something even more profoundly mundane and laughable in the process. At times it sounds like an elaborate joke -- witness the tone-deaf power metal vocals on "Beyond the Rivers of Hades" or the dismally performed "Superstitious Predictions of Misfortune". Elsewhere "Je$$us Immolation" [sic] manages to be virtually the only surprise on the record, by having lyrics that make the work of Glen Benton seem genuinely thought-provoking in comparison. Once in a while a decent lead or semi-interesting melody manages to wade through the muck, but for the most part I seriously doubt that the world would have been deprived of much, had Mystifier and their dismally produced fourth album disappeared straight up their own Satanic arses.

(article published 9/7/2003)

ALBUMS
19/10/2001	P Azevedo	6	Mystifier - The Fourth Evil Calling From the Abyss
11/10/1996	S Hoeltzel	8	Mystifier - The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here