Hooded Menace is sort of like the habanero of what they do; standing above a cornucopia of banana peppers which poorly replicate the intensity and honesty of this sort of thing, and the ají dulce sissies attempting to insert misguided emotional tendencies or some whiny nonsense into death/doom metal. "Effigies of Evil" is a total onslaught of maddening grooves and creepy, macabre melodies clawing the surface of Hooded Menace's skull; there's little else attached to the group's execution. Each and every anthem slowly spins on the same axis: recurrent, mortifying riffs which stomp like a horde of giants crushing a village of dwarves groove through ultra-low, guttural vocals and beating percussion. That's the whole package in a nutshell.

Now, it'd be a sad day if Hooded Menace screwed up their authentic slaughter of death/doom metal desecration, yet they have not—far from it if anything. In fact, it's legitimately amazing how Hooded Menace is able to inject so much personality and individualism into so many anthems that otherwise sound very much alike. Hooded Menace's undying ability to create sinful melodies and black-as-night atmospheres through songs that are naturally catchy and enriched is just a vital facet of the group's essence, and the album would certainly lack its bite without the evil hue coloring every corner of the effort. I like "Vortex Macabre" quite a lot—the broiling riffs smolder uncontrollably and they might burn your headphones if you aren't careful.