Dark Descent Records recently held an incredible $5.55 CD sale, during which I picked up the Depravity discography CD, Silence of the Centuries, among other goodies. A week or so later, as I was loading the disc onto my iPod, I was especially taken by the title of track #16, "Infernal Supremacy."
You see, I love "adjective + noun" death metal song titles. Love 'em. (In fact, I've been working on another list solely dedicated to such eloquent wordsmithery. Hello, "Injected Sufferage"!) And for some reason, I was convinced that I already had at least a small handful of songs in my iTunes library called "Infernal Supremacy."
I was wrong.
Infernäl Mäjesty? Check. Infernal Overkill? Of course. Whisper Supremacy? Got it. All that, and more.
"Infernal Supremacy"? Suspiciously absent.
But there has to be more out there, right? I mean, come on, it's got quite a ring to it, yeah?
And there is more out there. Not nearly as much as I had anticipated, however. In fact, I couldn't even find 10 metal-related references to the phrase "infernal supremacy," and most of what I did discover could not exactly be classified as "supreme"!
How can this be!?
Here's what I could dig up, in alphabetical order:
Bestial Mockery, "Domesticator," from Gospel of the Insane (Osmose Productions, 2006)
This Swedish black metal ditty—complete with chainsaw noises—contains the lyrics, "Infernal supremacy, on Satan's right hand," whatever that means. Their drummer's name is "Carl Warslaughter," though, so that's gotta count for something, right?
Black Witchery, "Antichrist Order of Holy Death," from Inferno of Sacred Destruction (Hell's Headbangers, 2010)
Good ol' Black Witchery, from Florida, breaks out the "infernal supremacy" in the second line of this song from their most recent full-length: "Infernal supremacy, darkness, dominion—holocaust storm..."
Depravity, "Infernal Supremacy," from Demo I (1991)
As mentioned above, this song from Finland's own Depravity spawned this list. And it's not a bad doom-tinged death metal track—aside from the fact that it sounds like it was digitized from a 17th-generation cassette that had been sitting in a cardboard box in the back of a basement closet for 20 years.
God Serpent, "Infernal Supremacy," from Rebellion (2013)
This Bulgarian duo (Frosthammer and Soulreaper) cranks out acceptable, lightly blackened death metal. Nothing to write home about, but some solid riffing is stifled a bit by its somewhat sterile production.
Infernal Supremacy
This German group took it all the way by naming their band Infernal Supremacy. They seem to have only released a couple of raw demo tunes thus far. Again, adequate blackened death metal, satisfactory band logo, etc. But why does it sound like the vocalist has a plastic bucket over his head?
Mortalfear, "Infernal Supremacy"
One of the better songs herein, this Filipino outfit has that early-2000s metalcore vibe, of course heavily inspired by melodic Swedish death metal. Decent song, crisp yet beefy production... not too shabby. I can't figure out if it's from a demo or an EP or what year it was recorded, though.
Sarcophagus, "Infernal Supremacy," from Requiem to the Death of Passion (Nightfall, 1998)
Now this is more like it! 2:15 of absolutely scathing black metal from Illinois. Much, much better than I expected from a group that also has a song called "Fuck Pig." Dare I say, I think I could actually argue that this track is legitimately "infernally supreme"!
Suffering Souls, "Sophisticated Torment," from Incarnated Perfection (Darkwind, 2003)
I could do without the keyboards, but this is otherwise decent German black metal with a couple of lyrical odes to "infernal supremacy" tucked inside. "My infernal supremacy, this sacrifice is for you..." Bonus points for the "adjective + noun" band name, song title, and album title. Awesome guitar solo, too!
Vale of Amonition, "Infernal Supremacy" from Infernal Supremacy (Legion of Death, 2012)
Ugandan metal band Vale of Amonition has a piece titled "Infernal Supremacy" on their 2012 7" of the same name. There's only one song from said EP on YouTube (not "Infernal Supremacy," sadly), and it's... well... not good. Like... so not good I'm almost shocked that the band is even listed in the Encyclopaedia Metallum. But, hey, you can't win 'em all. At least they're trying!
What did I miss? Are there any other "infernal supremacy" references out there? The phrase is just so damn metal. If you know of any additional examples, drop 'em into the comments below!
Comments
I thoroughly enjoyed this. That’s all.
10.28.2014 | By Carlos Ramirez