Wednesday, December 2, 2009

HAVOHEJ - DETHRONE THE SON OF GOD (1993)


Behold, once again, the double-edged sword of black metal.
The Embodiment of Dorkdom you see above and below is Paul Ledney, Satanic warrior and one-man army behind the completely ass-backwards NYC project Havohej. And the double-edged sword he holds aloft is the well-worn blade we all know so well -- the blade which cuts deep with unintentional humor and jaw-dropping cheesiness on one side and hacks maliciously with stunningly well-executed metal on the other. Dethrone The Son of God was the only full-length Havohej ever released until this year's Kembatinan Premaster, and was both preceded and followed by a slew of unofficial EP's and demos. But Havohej is worth the wait. This is some surprisingly well-written and competently performed BM, despite song names like "The Fucking of Sacred Assholes" and the conspicuous fact that its creator fancies himself some sort of evil wizard.
The off-puttingly clean guitar tones found on several tracks set Dethrone apart from its kvlt peers musically, and I can't help but respect Ledney's drive and conviction when it comes to sexually assaulting Jesus and wearing capes. He's a weird dude, and at one point was part of the legendary New York metal cult known as Profanatica (he also played in Crowned In Semen and Conneticut Cocksuckers, PS). To learn more about the blasphemous death cults of Profanatica and Havohej, maybe you should go over to "THE UNHOLY ALTAR OF PROFANATICA AND HAVOHEJ" and have a look around. Scroll about halfway down the page. Hey look, one of the guys in Profanatica took a band photo with his, um, "serpent" exposed. In fact, he's completely nude except for his corpsepaint. Rad. Just another example of how seriously these guys take themselves. I am eternally grateful for dudes with sack enough to do that kind of shit in the name of art.
And thanks again to Paul Ledney and Havohej for finally proving what we all pretty much knew already: Black metal can be ridiculous, and black metal can be awesome. But sometimes, it can be just the right combination of the two.

Download HERE
Purchase HERE


Havohej on Myspace

PS: I've begun the painstaking process of re-upping all the albums that MediaFire deleted in the last month or so, starting with Grindcrusher and moving backwards. If anyone wants me to re-up something sooner rather than later, just let me know in the 'Comments' section.

4 comments:

The Goodkind said...

Good day to you sir.
Just thought you'd be interested to know that I am going to attempt to cite and footnote your blog ("Knockin' on Wood", Nov. 11, 2009) in my final paper for my Modern Consumerism course. I'll let you know how it goes over.
Keep me posted on the Seattle visit. If you can, try and book at the Sunset, you can crash at my place.

Helm said...

I don't think Profanatica/Jehovah take themselves as seriously as you might. There's some videos on the internet of them talking about their band that might demotivate you from considering them as commited evil wizards of lust. There are other reasons to show your cock than for satan, as I undestand it.

Shelby Cobras said...

Seth- Thanks alot, dude! I'm flattered beyond words, let me know how it turns out. I'll def. keep you in the loop on Seattle travel plans.

Helm- I choose to remain in a state of willful ignorance about Havohej/Profanatica. No reality could ever match the image they have built, so I choose to just believe the hype and end it there.

Anonymous said...

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH94xJtqj5A