Every note of Henbane sounds like it was dipped in shit — from the rumbling, bumbling bass guitar to the basement-shriek vocals — yet some kind of dark energy keeps this thing alive. What might be bog-standard embryonic black metal in the hands of a lesser bunch of buffoons instead straddles the fine line between kvlt and camp as well as anyone. As evidence, I offer this press photo, in which aptly named vocalist “Mark Of The Devil” locks lips with a human skull, despite the apparent absence of the dead thing’s lips. Meanwhile, the music, as sloppy as it is, conjures an actual atmosphere of menace. Spooky, inchoate riffs gather power and swirl into something surprisingly intense … until our man Mark creeps in and cackles like a maniac, dragging us back to the realm of the absurd. Henbane makes as little sense as most low-budget horror movies — for whatever reason I picture this scene from Basket Case every time I hear it — but it succeeds for the same exact reason. Hells Headbangers, one of the best labels running, excels at this stuff. –Aaron [LISTEN]