Album Review: Horrifier – Revelations of Gore

Album Review: Horrifier – Revelations of Gore

Reviewed by Sam Jones

Following the release of Horrifier’a last album I was thoroughly on board with the band and hopeful for future releases; that time has come in the form of the band’s second full length album, Revelations Of Gore. Formed in 2022 out of Oslo, Norway, the band stylise themselves on all things putrid, rotting and macabre with a Demo, Split and soon a Single leading up to their debut 2023 record, Horrid Resurrection, a record I truly adored upon first listening. The band have since released an EP, 2025’s Burial Ground, a Split alongside Impugner, and now we come to their newest full length. Once again distributed via Personal Records, Horrifier return with ten tracks of slaughter to keep us sated and at bay. Revelations Of Gore sees the light of day August 7th.

Given Horrifier’a established affinity for speed and the wanton laceration of flesh, it’s interesting they should open their record up with more trudging songwriting indicative of doomy tendencies. Granted their tempo rapidly intensifies thereon but it demonstrates the band have already started looking to new frontiers by which their songwriting may transport us. The record, as it develops, isn’t afraid to change gears on a whim and thus deliver something slower before indulging in frantic blast beats and vocals with the rapacity of howling spirits.

The production for this record, in spite of the filthy and belligerent subject matter Horrifier indulge with, is surprisingly clean. However, it’s not clean to the degree of transparency where one may look straight through the band, Revelations Of Gore emits a piercing, razor-bladed exterior where merely touching its serrated edge is asking for grievous injury. It’s also remarkably compact, you get the feeling Horrifier wanted all their pieces close together in a bind so nothing could be ascertained to wandering off. Even as solos kick in there’s little indication things are set to break loose; its under such tight control you’ll feel it’s murderous inclinations with ease. Revelations Of Gore will have you under its eyes from start to finish.

Following this notion it must be observed how grounded Horrifier’a performance feels; there’s no concept put forth that they’re set to play death metal about fantastical ideas or avant-garde subjects, their songwriting matches the slaughtering and mundane actions of human death. There were numerous sequences where my head naturally bopped to their momentum, where songwriting slowed to a steady crawl, initiating this fervent, foul nightmare . As a result Horrifier’a sound takes on a familiar and frightening dimension, bringing the horror out of the netherealms and before your very corporeal form. The band ultimately bring you face to face with death in all its malicious apathy.

Though multiple elements of the band throughout this release deliver ruthless and unrepentant performances, the mix manages to balance each of these forces, typically low in tone in their own right, and crafts stellar cohesion out of it all. It’s what aids the band in that grounded, cadaver-creating miasma coating every minute of this record with the cessation of life. But then you the drums, notably the cymbals and other aspects of the kit, that burst forth through the din and still apply the ravenous rancour Horrifier so established in their last record. The most minute of cymbal strikes are audible as are the interchanging drum patterns that carry us from one sequence to another. Throw in too the frantic playing Horrifier showcase when speed is the prerogative and the band becomes a true savage, shackled to earth, knowing full well the devastation it may set loose were it freed. It’s in that knowing malevolence, acknowledging one’s own bloodlust, that gives Revelations Of Gore its unhinged psychopathy.

In conclusion, Revelations Of Gore is a record that has been submerged in blood and viscera for much longer, and at greater depths, than their debut record ever was. Though the threat of ripping our person apart remains, Horrifier seem far more intent on accomplishing that end this time round. Things are more real, techniques more laid out towards achieving their goal. Killing isn’t some fantasy borne from sadism but a genuine, deeply sated need for blood. Revelations Of Gore brings in plenty of slower, creeping pieces of songwriting hearkening to mind a hidden and abject fury blown into reality with death metal that shall never tire and never renege on its plans. It’s certainly Horrifier’s strongest work to date and that’s saying something considering the strength of their last record too.

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