Hierophant
Hierophant (Mcd) 1999 Black Beyonds Music
This EP contains two of the three tracks one can find back in Hierophant's second EP ' The weight of winter', but the tracks here are not yet remastered by Dario Derna (also known as the keyboard player of Evoken). Hierophant is an one-man doom-metal project from New Jersey. The members from ultradoom band Evoken don't hesitate to praise Hierophant on each occasion they get the chance to, and those who had the luck to listen to one of the two EP's from this band, know why. The unrelentingly slow, hallucinatingly heavy DOOM Hierophant lets loose on the unsuspecting listener, immediately grips him at his throat, breaking his sorry bones. The weapons that are used in this nightmarish experience, are crushingly heavy distortion guitars, pounding drums and a death grunt that sounds like the dead's answer to this unfortunate being that dared to disturb their peaceful sleep, making them REALLY angry. The production is very underground and obscure (you can even hear some background hiss), but those who are used to the raw sound of underground releases, shall hardly spill a tear about this. The minimalistic drone sounds of Hierophant, so monotonous and devoid of any temperament or human emotions, are extremely addictive and those who have felt the call of the DOOM of bands like diSEMBOWELMENT, Thergothon, Dusk and other monuments of brutal, mysterious and slowed down metal, should already start salivating like Pavlov's dogs when reading this review. Some time ago, J. Del Russi (the founder/sole member of this band) talked about disbanding this soulcrushing project. I'm very glad that he changed his mind in the meanwhile, because the world needs new, promising ultradoom.	1. Forever Dying 2. Where no light hath shone Approx. 12 minutes
Reviewed by Kostas Panagiotou
The Weight of Winter (Mcd) 2001 Black Beyonds Music
Prepare to abandon all hope and follow that one way downward spiral into depression. From these depths of depression and despair the sound of Hierophant echoes. In the vein of bands like Thergothon and Skepticism, this Mcd offers us funeral doom in its purest form. With grunts that sound like a horrible beast rather than a human being, music so heavy it could crush a grown up man and an average speed that would make the guys from Skepticism proud, it is hard to escape the cesspool of misery Hierophant opens. It is also not surprising that fellow conveyers of ultimate musical despair Evoken personally recommend this work. Needless to say I am highly impressed. This is music that makes you turn the lights off, lay on your bed and sink away in self-pity. The only true shame about this release is that Hierophant is cursed with a virus that infects almost all bands in this style: bad production. Also just like it happened with Dusk, diSEMBOWELMENT and Thergothon before, Hierophant was only short lived. Due to health reasons this Mcd became Hierophant's swan song (be it a very deformed, sick and twisted swan with obvious suicide tensions). You can get this Mcd for $10 by sending an e-mail to blackbeyondsmusic@hotmail.com. [Editor note: Hierophant has returned to active status]	1. Forever Dying 2. Where No Light hath Shone 3. The Weight of Winter Approx. 25 minutes
Reviewed by Aldo Quispel
Autumn dusk (Demo) 2002 Black Beyonds Music
Hierophant's 'The weight of winter'' was for me last year's reminder why underground doom has stolen my heart: raw, unpolished, heavy as fuck and lethally brutal, it managed to kick my ass on several occasions, banning from my room the annoying sounds of my neighbour listening to Flemish schlagers. Being the heaviest demo I heard that year, I didn't expect to find a tape with even heavier Hierophant material playing in my stereo some months later. It only confirmed the fact that this projects' evolution seems to run parallel with that of US doom gods Evoken, descending closer and closer to hell with each consecutive release. Typical for Hierophant's sound are the massively downtuned, excruciating slow guitars, pounding drums and J. del Russi's ultradeep grunt which sounds as if the Living Dead are standing behind your door ready to get you. A monotonous, mesmerizing clean guitar is layered all over this sonic violence, unavoidably leading the listener's mind towards albums like 'Transcendence into the peripheral' and 'Epistemological despondency' which stood at the dawn of this kind of mystical ultradoom. However, to fully appreciate the grandeur of this unwordly music, one should try to shut out any references to other bands during the listening experience, avoiding generalizations and comparisons and letting Hierophant weave its mystically brutal sounds and mysterious essence, evoking dark and nocturnal emotions from the initiated listener. In the meanwhile, J. del Russi heralded the end of this project, making us realize how precious and sacred the sounds are of those few bands that dared to cross the line of what is considered acceptable, unleashing that which according to the majorities should better stay imprisoned and well-hidden. Its dark essence can only be benevolent to the few, causing great harm and suffering to the others. May 'Autumn dusk' be for the next generations the final evidence that such hidden forces are always there, lingering in the dark, patiently waiting to be unleashed upon mankind just once, only once ..."for we shall not pass this way again"...	1. From the Dust of Graves 2. Ancient Moonlight 3. Shades of Aqueous Essence Approx. 30 minutes
Reviewed by Kostas Panagiotou