by Fred Pessaro
There are bands that talk about the horned one, reaching into the abyss, how fucking sick weed is or just how much they truly rock out but for Departure Chandelier, the subject matter is considerably more pointed and unique – “Napoleonic war black metal.” Following up their underground favorite Antichrist Rise to Power from last year, Departure Chandelier is releasing a new EP of “forbidden material” today with the Dripping Papal Blood EP consisting of two unreleased tracks from the band’s unknown second demo in the early ’10s. The short release examines Nostradamus’s prediction of Napoleon as the Antichrist, applying that idea to his relationship with Pope Pius VII – a rivalry which featured double-crosses, house arrest, nepotism and tons of corruption at the highest levels of government.
“Despite the antichrist’s repugnancy of the papacy, Napoleon knew he still needed the symbolic authority of the church during his unpreceded self-coronation (referred to by the band as ‘ascension to accipitridae!’ – the classification of predatory birds of prey). With the appointment of the cruel Cardinal Fesch (a relative of the emperor) after the antichrist’s Doup D’Etat of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon gave Fesch orders to persuade the pope to attend the emperor’s coronation, only later to be stripped of religious power and cast out of the diocese due to Napoleon’s inflexible attitude toward the church. Fesch later died in Rome surrounded by his masterpiece art collection rumored to be pillaged and later bequeathed in his will.”
And while the concepts behind Dripping Papal Blood are fascinating on their own, none of it would matter if the tracks didn’t truly RIP– which they do. After an intro, the opening track enters with a somber, half-speed cadence that feel funereal. From there, the bloodthirsty “Papal Blood Drips Down to the Hilt of the Antichrist’s Saber” successfully walks the dangerous tightrope between magnificently unrelenting and utterly unlistenable– hitting the sweet spot and avoiding the normal default to the latter. Chainsaw guitars, inhuman blasts, ungodly vocals bring to mind some of the brutal simplicity of early Ildjarn and venomous hatred of early Mayhem with the chilling unholy approach of Beherit. Check out the latest track available here for the first time and on sale NOW at Bandcamp.
