Review by Daniel for Havohej - Dethrone the Son of God (1993)

When I recently took a detailed look at the 1993 releases I needed to fill historical rating gaps for, the debut album from New York black metallers Havohej was definitely one of the less appealing records to appear in the list. It was the release that first made me aware of the US solo act shortly after it was released but I could vaguely recall finding it to be a pretty flat experience at the time & I honestly haven't felt the need to revisit it since, despite having investigated a few of Havohej's subsequent releases over the years. "Dethrone the Son of God" seems to have developed somewhat of a cult following over the years though so I thought it was worth taking another look at it, if only to satisfy my obsessive urge for completism.

Havohej (or "Jehovah" backwards) is the solo project of Profanatica front man & drummer Paul Ledney (also formerly of US death metal legends Incantation) who handles all of the instruments on this release with the help of Profanatica guitarist John Gelso. The cover artwork is the first obstacle that you'll need to overcome as it challenges for the worst in black metal history. The music contained within is certainly better than the artwork would have you believe but is still nothing to write home about. It's a very short album with its fifteen tracks racing past in just 28 minutes. There's a strong death metal influence evident with some songs containing what are essentially death metal riffs but Ledney's blackened snarl invariably sees me wanting to tie the record to black metal nonetheless. The level of musicianship isn't fantastic but then I don't think that's the point of a release like this one which seems to be targeted more at your kvlt black metal elitist demographic than anyone else. In fact, the beginning & end of some of the tracks leave the impression of a tape recorder having been triggered to start recording a track in mid performance, not unlike some of Darkthrone's recording techniques at the time.

"Dethrone the Son of God" kicks off in reasonable fashion with the first few tracks all being more than acceptable but the quality levels start to become pretty inconsistent from that point on. I wouldn't say that any of the metal numbers are terrible but there are four or five that sound pretty flat & do very little for me. I enjoy the sections of the album that see Havohej slowing things down a bit to create an eerie atmosphere that's similar to Mayhem's more down-tempo passages like the legendary climax of "Freezing Moon". The big elephant in the room is the closing title track though which sees Ledney screaming a succession of immature blasphemic obscenities in acapella, a task that leaves him sounding incredibly naive & silly, even for a still very young US black metal scene. It kinda sums up Havohej's debut really as there's not an ounce of sophistication about it. It's all very obvious & purely surface level which leaves the listener with the option to simply take it or leave it. Personally, I think I'm gonna have to go with the latter but can appreciate the dark atmosphere of the stronger material (see "Raping of Angels Part II" & album highlight "Fucking of Sacred Assholes" which literally only uses a single note but manages to draw me in through some well placed rhythmic variations).

For fans of Profanatica, Demoncy & Bestial Summoning.