Column Of Heaven has gotten some hype from being the new band from two of the guys from The Endless Blockade, but the project has already established itself as a formidable force with a very distinct sound that is hardly a mere continuation of what the Blockade were doing. Sure, Column is similarly influenced by the extremes of hardcore and brute-force electronics, but the music on the debut 12" Mission From God is a weirder, heavier, and mucho feral beast of its own. I was lucky enough to get a copy of the uber-limited cassette release of Mission From God earlier this year, and it has been regularly blasting out of my stereo ever since. The crazed, borderline psychedelic blastcore takes the power-violence / extreme hardcore influence into a more chaotic direction, while sounding considerably heavier than the Blockade did, and their jagged, 1000 mph violence is bolstered by an excellent recording that renders every scream, electronic meltdown, and grind riff in clear detail. What also distinguishes this from their other projects is the relentlessly grim and terminally misanthropic imagery and subject matter found in their lyrics and visuals, with references made to Peter Sutcliffe, the infamous "Yorkshire Ripper" who terrorized Britain throughout the 1970s and the social and cultural environment in England at the time, thoughtful observations on humanity's inherent cruelty, and hidden occult symbolism (some of which is contributed by street artist and C-Blast fave Give Up). In every aspect, the band projects a pitch-black worldview.

Beginning with the eerie atmospherics of "After The Mission", Column Of Heaven launches into eleven tracks of brutal hardcore and shadowy ambience that twists and turns through an ever-present cloud of mutant noise, and the influence of Man Is The Bastard is clearly felt. But while Column of Heaven absorb the more vicious strains of West Coast hardcore extremism, this is a far more souped-up and lunatic hardcore sound that also bleeds some distinct death metal crush out into the metallic riffs and the vocals, which often sink into a disgusting guttural snarl that reminds me of John Tardy from Obituary. On top of that, the band also utilizes all kinds of weird effects where the vocals will start skipping in place or begin to loop round and round, and this warped production fuckery gives Column Of Heaven a disorienting, chaotic feel that makes their music that much more savage. Elsewhere, you'll hear church organs that will suddenly emerge out of a 1000 mile per hour grind blast, or the band will suddenly drop into a passage of bleak electronic ambience before surging into a massive doom riff. As fueled on violence as this is, Column Of Heaven makes excellent use of atmospheric noise and samples to electrify their nightmarish visions, and the band closes the album not with blasting heaviness but with the sound of haunting piano music and a recording of Sutcliffe's own voice...

Hands down, Mission From God is my favorite extreme HC/grind record of 2012, and positions Column Of Heaven as a lethal new force. Highly recommended.