Well it’s a good time to sleep and dream, taking off in your head to distant places unravaged by plague. That’s exactly what Spaniard Lord Orots has been doing and apparently, he has recently slept “upon his throne for ten thousand years, guarded by the dragon Nefaxion, before awakening to survey his realm, Latzine.” Well of course he has been awake on and off to release other albums and EP’s recently but we can forgive the hyperbole. Here we are in a place of dark and mainly instrumental fantasy black metal or dungeon synth as the kids are calling it today, so we can put this on and enter his dreams with him. Singing is not going to be the easiest looking at promo pictures of the Basque in his Masque as it is a striking one too, that looks something in between a snowshoe and a waffle maker?! Doubt it’s effective PPE but anyway enough of the piss taking upon him, this is music that probably needs an otherworldly image to go with it and it proves to make things all the more mysterious.

An owl hoots, thunder rumbles, wind whistles and we enter ‘A Timeless Kingdom’ via haunting and plaintive keyboards as the first of these 4 tracks takes hold. There’s a glistening and majestic aura quickly crafted here and one realises they are going to find themselves immersed in this frosty fiefdom for just over the next half an hour or so. The main point of reference here are the masters themselves Summoning, there’s no escaping that fact but that should not hinder one’s enjoyment here in the slightest as guitars twirl and spiral around and one tries to conjure up images of the Lord’s lore and magical domain. The wind continues to sigh as we go into the longest track ‘The Black Abyss’ at just over ten minutes in length. There is a strong medieval vibe about it due to the plucked instrumental sounds but the abyss in question strikes as a not particularly dangerous one as the pace here is calm rather than embittered. There’s some drama though and the melody is strong with some stirring elongated crescendos and a sombre presence ghosting the haunted void. There’s actually what sounds like a couple of low growls here too, I could be mistaken, perhaps the dragon has turned in his sleep and a spark of fire has singed his master. It is not really a problem either way as this music works incredibly well as an instrumental affair, which this essentially is all but some brief chanting.

Speaking of that Dragon it’s time for ‘Nefaxion’s Wakening’ he’s bound to be a bit grumpy and no doubt hungry by now as well as surprised about the changes that have taken place in the world as he has slumbered. Organ sounds herald this age-old ritual and occasional booms have this lethargically revitalised beast opening a cautious eye and gazing around looking for intruders or perhaps an offering of tasty sheep. Ambience and neo-classicism show not much has actually changed in all these years and the strong smell of nostalgia as well as the constant wind hanging heavy as the instrumentation livens with a sweep of Nefaxion’s massive tail. Now he’s done it, all the activity finally sees that ‘The Lord Rises From His Tomb.’ There’s a definite solemnity about this rare occasion and it has a regal feel about it which would make for an evocative soundtrack, the nostalgia placing it in the same sort of place as an 80’s sword and sorcery movie as a thief intrudes to steal treasured gems from this cavernous resting place. Sure, this isn’t the most original album you have heard and the brevity of 33 minutes could be bolstered by an extra track or so but apart from these qualms lovers of the sub-genre will find themselves hungrily lapping up this tale.

“But now it’s time for bed,” growls Nefaxion to his master. Lazy bloody dragon!

(7.5/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/lordorots

https://onismproductions.bandcamp.com/album/conquering-the-infinite-void