THE SYNN REPORT (PART 168): BLACK KNIFE

Recommended for fans of: Midnight, Hellripper, Goatwhore

Let me tell you a story about why it’s important to strike while the iron (or knife) is hot.

Having first discovered self-described “Heavy Metal Punx from Hell” Black Knife back at the end of 2021, and then enjoying their third (and, sadly, final) album, Baby Eater Witch, last year, I decided that I’d pick up the band’s entire back-catalogue on cd for #BandcampFriday at the start of February

But no, it was not to be, since – due to their decision to break-up (which I hadn’t even heard about) – they’d recently sold out of every single copy of both their debut album, Spell Caster and it’s fantastic follow-up, Murder Season, so I ended up missing out on the chance to add both to my collection.

So, with that in mind, I hereby encourage you all to check out what brimstone snortin’, bullet-belt wearin’, d-beat lovin’ devil-worshippers Black Knife have to offer in this latest edition of The Synn Report, because while the band may now have been laid to rest, their music is still very much alive and kicking.

2019 – SPELL CASTER

The primitive, Punk-as-fuck (and twice as ugly) vibes of “Drag You To Hell” – which sits somewhere between Venom and The Exploited (with some Motörhead thrown in there too) on the denim ‘n’ leather spectrum – quickly set the bar for the band’s rough ‘n’ ready, down ‘n’ dirty debut album, with the subsequent title track then simply doubling down on the band’s shameless love of crusty hooks and total lack of giving a fuck.

With “Pentagram of Rats”, however, the album then kicks things up another notch, adding an even heftier helping of First Wave Black Metal worship into the group’s bubbling cauldron of unashamedly “Old School” influences, after which the reckless gallop of “The Devil’s Rock ‘n’ Roll” and up-tempo grooves of “Ripper on the Loose” further reaffirm that Black Knife are the sort of band for whom subtlety is a four-letter word (and I’m sure you can guess which one).

That’s no bad thing, however, as the band’s bad attitude and badass persona is a big part of what makes them so good, and while “Full Moon Suicide” takes a little while to get going due to its “straight to VHS” video nasty intro, once it kicks in you get the impression that Black Knife have finally hit their stride, with the bullish, Bathory-meets-The Ramones bombast of “Graveyard Bitch” and the altogether nastier one-two of “Beyond the Mortuary” and “Bury Your God” (think Darkthrone meets Discharge) turning things all the way up to eleven.

The album then ends on a pair of back-to-back high notes, with the in-your-face “Lust for Lacerations” being the sort of track that could easily soundtrack a Black Metal bar-brawl… or incite one… while gloomier, heavier closer “In Satan’s Name We Pray” takes more than a few lessons from the Goatwhore school of grim, grimy grooves and spiteful savagery, suggesting that – while they’re clearly not averse to having some fun as the kick out the jams – Black Knife aren’t afraid to get serious, and lean into the darkness, when the moment requires it.

2021 – MURDER SEASON

Album number two finds Black Knife cranking up the intensity and giving into some of their darker, uglier impulses and influences – more Mayhem, more Sodom, more Celtic Frost – as epitomised by the menacingly melodic and viciously vitriolic title-track and its even more frenzied follow-up, “They Kill At Night”.

Keeping with this “take no prisoners” attitude, the fantastically-named “Bloodbath Orgy” – think Motörhead meets early Metallica meets Master’s Hammer – keeps up the frenetic pace, after which the equally brilliantly-titled “World of Piss” and the slower, nastier “Death Divine” go for a gnarlier, groovier approach (the latter especially).

“My Knife In Your Skull” then ups the nastiness even further with an even more blackened and thrashier – though still Punk as hell, all the way down to its steel-toed boots – assault that pushes the band towards the heaviest and most “extreme” they’ve ever been, while still retaining a syphilitic sonic catchiness, with “Satan’s Wolves” and “Leatherface” (the latter being an aggressive anti-anthem that sits somewhere between Hellhammer and The Dead Kennedys) proving to be just as vicious and just as virulent.

Penultimate track “Feed the Beast” again shows just how good Black Knife can be when they lean into their more Goatwhore-ish side, spitting fire and cranking out riffs like the band know that the season is almost over and they need to up their body count as quickly and efficiently as possible, before “Unholy Ritual” – the group’s longest, and darkest, song yet – brings things to a creeping, crawling climax.

2023 – BABY EATER WITCH

The band’s swansong finds them going out with a bang, delivering some of the group’s most intensely aggro, brimstone-blackened and thrash-tastic material yet, beginning with the unapologetic opening assault of “Haunt Your Nightmares” – which immediately showcases the album’s meatier, heavier guitar tone – before crashing headlong, with no remorse and no regret, into the reckless rollercoaster of rambunctious riffs and neck-snapping snare beats that is “Red Rotten Face”.

The title-track then hits just as hard, if not even harder, with some of the harshest, sharpest riffage of the band’s career, with the rhythmic duo of Bast and Mad Matt (on bass and drums respectively) also stepping up their game and locking into an even tighter, punchier pairing, after which the punishing “Screaming From the Depths of Hell” unexpectedly transforming into a full-on Death-Thrash band for just under three minutes, putting in a performance that would put the guys in Witchery and The Crown to shame.

It’s clear then, that Black Knife plan to go out on top with Baby Eater Witch, and the irresistibly anthemic “Killed By A Ghost” (with its delicious, shout-along chorus) and the ridiculously riffy “Evil Sex on Halloween” (again, demonstrating that the band aren’t averse to having a little bit of filthy fun, even as they grow increasingly darker and heavier at the same time) sounding like the demon-spawn of Aura Noir and the Misfits.

And while the humongous riffs and equally burly vocals of “Snakebite Succubus” successfully make Black Knife sound like a more blackened and punkier version of early Slayer – which, if you haven’t guessed, is one hell of a compliment – it’s the semi-eponymous “Heavy Metal Punx From Hell” which truly sums up exactly who the band are, with its bubbling brew of rampaging riffs, galloping grooves, and ragged, rusty hooks.

Climaxing with the sinister swagger and horror-show synths of “Crawling Through Your Guts to See the Light”, Baby Eater Witch is a fitting epitaph for a band who may be dead… but whose evil will never truly die.