‘’I am the saviour of the Fens . And you will fear my name . For I am Hopkins’’
Fenland black metallers, The Infernal Sea, have been chronicling the dark corners of English and European history for some years. Unearthing brutal tales of the plague, satanic killings, and an infamous hellhound, it’s been an intense journey. Now, their latest twisted opus, finds us plunged into the seventeenth century murderous reign of Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General. Maybe a natural choice for East Anglian dwellers with a thirst for barbarism, but still one which requires all the group’s deathly prowess to execute.
Told through the eyes of Hopkins himself, we have a front row seat, as he puts the fear of god into an unsuspecting public: ‘’I am the true messiah, master of your destruction.’’
Striking a balance between the calculated and the unhinged, the group are equally adept at delivering a torrent of riffage, and a torrid tale: Hopkins’ hellish sermonising is audible above the waves of sinister instrumentation, elevating the sharply written lyrics to deliver some of the most memorable moments. The group may have dubbed Hopkins the bastard of the east, but this band are the bards.
A subject screaming out to be inflicted on the listener with the gravitas it deserves, and The Infernal Sea are more than up to the task.
