When I first heard them, I wasn’t sure maybe they had members from Diocletian, maybe not. But it turns out that members of both Diocletian and Witchrist are indeed involved in the band. Interestingly, the vocalist and bassist aren’t connected to either of those groups. Regardless, this nuclear roar comes straight from New Zealand soil. Formed in 2008, Heresiarch released their debut demo Obsecrating the Global Holocaust in early April through Satanic Skinhead Propaganda. What emerged is nothing short of a full-blown sonic massacre from the deepest pits of hell.
With three tracks including a Bathory cover, “Equimanthorn” Heresiarch delivers a blistering 13-minute dose of black/death metal mayhem. Within that short span, they unleash peak-level sadism. The guitars exhale like scorching vapor, fusing with diseased screams and caveman grunts that sound like they were born in a subterranean abyss—ready to shred your eardrums. At some point, you may find yourself drifting into a trance-like state from the sheer intensity. Limited to just 200 cassette copies, this demo will be followed by a split with Nyogthaeblisz and an EP later in the year consider yourself warned. If you’re wondering about reference points, let’s just say Blasphemy, Beherit, and Diocletian worship and leave it at that.
The title track, Obsecrating the Global Holocaust, is a war metal annihilation anthem that perfectly fits the genre’s standard. I especially loved the vocal shrieks they're downright feral. The same goes for “Man Is Carnivore,” and both tracks feature slower, apocalyptic sections toward the end that create an insane, suffocating atmosphere. As for the Bathory cover, they didn’t just do it justice—they went full-on executioner mode. Not in a bad way, though; hearing this song twisted into Heresiarch’s brand of infernal chaos was genuinely captivating. Judging from this demo alone, it's clear they’re already a serious threat and in future releases, they might become downright catastrophic.