Christ Inversion - Christ Inversion (2008)

   Christ Inversion was one of Phil Anselmo's numerous underground projects, that are not so known for ordinary Pantera and Down fans, and also not compatible with their taste. It was also one of the first black metal tryings in the US.
   This compilation is basically the release of their first demo from '94. The band was short lived, so it counts as a worthy memorial of their experiments. Similar to Demonic Christ, even though they tried to fit to the main concept of black metal, the death metal influences are so strong, that the whole thing didn't work out as they've probably intended. The themes stucked somewhere in half way between black and death metal, and at the end the second sounds dominating. They've added dramatic intros to complete the satanic concept that's theatrically American, and the atmosphere they tried to create with effects that may fit into a horror film. This, and some song structures strongly reminding (not surprisingly)  to Necrophagia. The aggressive shouting vocal would also fit better into another story, and even if the noisy rehearsal quality is quite evident, it still represents higher sound quality than the classic blackened sizzling sound, cause the instruments could be clearly heard, and not leading to the needed atmosphere. Christ Inversion counts as black/death also as a pathfinding experiment, since it's different from anything similar in this style. But because the genre doesn't support such diversity as death metal, to approach it in the same way can't result anything that could fit between it's tight borders.