Brooklyn based duo Stress Angel didn’t cross my radar until a couple years ago, after the release of their debut full length, Bursting Church. I can’t remember specifically who turned me onto them (probably Aaren from Molder), but I’ll tell you this much: Had I been aware of them in 2021, Stress Angel definitely would’ve made my year end list. Their unique brand of primitive death metal drew heavily from the genre’s earliest days, specifically that of Possessed’s Seven Churches. Everything about this album, from the riffs and vocals to the delivery and production, sounded straight out of ’85, while simultaneously boasting the same creativity of that crucial era.
Fast forward a few years and several high profile shows later (a slot at Hell’s Heroes and co-headline tour with Swedish purists Century caught the attention of many); Stress Angel are back and more sinister than ever with their sophomore offering, Punished by Nemesis. If you’re expecting a sophomore slump here, think again. Hence the title of the album, Stress Angel absolutely punish the listener with another ferocious affair. They fire on all cylinders from beginning to end, without giving us the impression that this is a mere rehash of Bursting Church.
The opening title cut comes storming out of the gates, fast and evil with that undeniable Seven Churches tinge. If death metal as a genre had followed more in this vein than Scream Bloody Gore, chances are it would sound like this. Cuts like “Ritual Debt”, “Ancient Weakness”, and “Ridicules of Death” also recall the days before the genre became pigeonholed by Cookie Monster vocals and assembly line productions. The energy is chaotic and feral, with little regard for convention, opting instead to assault us with an overwhelming occult atmosphere and bleak changeovers akin to Autopsy at their most demented.
There is also an undeniable first wave black metal influence throughout this release, so much so that I feel I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t at the very least include it in the genre tag. On “Monsignor’s Wish” and “Close to the Presence of Suffering” specifically, we get a foreboding sense of darkness in the riffs and vocals that lie somewhere between The Return era Bathory and Sentence of Death era Destruction. Drummer/frontman Manny Sores occasionally lets out these Schmier-esque shrieks that makes my blood curdle the same way those Possessed/Kreator tom drums do (It’s the little things!). There is, however, no cut more diabolical on here than “Jericho’s Trumpet”: A raging masterclass in ’80s black metal worship.
Punished by Nemesis sounds like it could’ve been released anytime in the past 40 years, which is a testament to the timelessness of the metal on display. Furthermore, Stress Angel needs to be praised for their ability to craft such innovative and unpredictable extreme metal in an age where nearly everything that could be done has been done. Perhaps there’s some sorcery at play here? Whatever the case may be, this dynamic and devastating duo are bringing down the hammer with no mercy. Make sure not to stand in their path.
8 out of 10
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Genre: Black/Death/Thrash Metal
For fans of: Possessed, Bathory, Morbid Angel