Okkultokrati, Snakereigns

I don’t need to know how to pronounce Okkultokrati to know that these fuckers are chock full of seething, vitriolic hatred towards all of mankind. The band’s sophomore effort, Snakereigns is packed to the blackened rim with crusty, violent punk rock that sounds more like Satan gargling the Pope’s liquefied innards. This album is a grimy, temperamental blend of Black Flag, Entombed, Darkthrone and more delivered as though it’s served right from the gnarliest, rat-infested back alley known to man.

The guys open up Snakereigns with the up-tempo gallop of “No Ouroboros,” a song that is churning with vocals that are spit in your face with a spray of bile. The music is firmly rooted in punk, but carries a blackened edge to the buzzing guitars. This isn’t neat pop-punk either. This shit is filthy, down-tuned and doesn’t give a fuck if it’s a little on the messy side. The title track has beefy riffage, animalistic drums and more of that vile vocal work. It’s a sub-two minute track, but man, it is destructive as hell with it’s overall down-tuned vibe.

There’s nothing really all that much to think about when listening to the music these dudes are vomiting out. It’s raw, unfiltered mayhem delivered as loudly and as violently as possible. “I Thought of Demons” and “Unconscious Mind” are prime examples of the band’s methodology. The former is a three minute barrage of blackened destruction while the latter starts off slowly before erupting into a miasma of churning guitars and clashing drums — that is, before the whole thing dissolves into noise and chaos. “We So Heavy” slows things down with a bit of a doomy vibe, but is no less as destructive and “Let the Sun Receive Her King” has a bit of a rock groove to it.

I’m not the biggest collector of punk material, but any time I can get a little Entombed influence with a punk snarl, I’m all for it. I’m doubly stoked if the music is angry as fuck, which in Okkultokrati’s case is putting it mildly. Snakereigns is the end result of a band of degenerates beating the hell out of their instruments. I highly recommend it.