Black Metal is still very much an evolving art form and while some stay true to its roots, others continue to push the boundaries and this is exactly what Polish one-man project Ars Magna Umbrae does here. Following on from the debut album in 2018, Apotheosis is a claustrophobic and dense slab, perhaps with a hint of some of the more recent Icelandic releases. This is immersive, dark, unsettling, occult black metal of the highest order.
The album opens with a 5 minute ambient piece where sublime, subtle melodies nestle comfortably alongside a soothing spoken word passage. There atmosphere is a little mystical, perhaps even astral and overall the piece is soothing, esoteric and meditative.
However, this is soon a distant memory as ‘She Who Splits The Earth’ blasts straight in, shattering the calm that has gone before with a no nonsense pummelling. Rasping vocals and ripping guitar riffs soon give way to a well-placed pause which then allows the intensity to rebuild, overlaid with male spoken word, perhaps less ferocious than the opening but no less intense as it climbs to a malevolent ending.
This theme continues with sinister melody and intense vocals giving an air of controlled maleficence during ‘On The Wings of Divine Fires’ before instrumental track ‘Apotheosis’ sears in with blast beats and harsh riffs. This soon settles into a hypnotic guitar melody with accessible melodies.
We are taken back to the earlier more impenetrable sound for the next two tracks. ‘Mare Tenebrarum’ starts with a sinister simple guitar piece before launching into a veritable vortex of aural violence. As with other tracks on the album, this then settles into a more brooding enmity, before ‘Oracle of Luminous Dark’ opens with an air of dark ethereal majesty. This track is a little more morose but fits well within the crushing density of the album. There is no let up with the ‘Of Divine Divergence’, the longest track on the album which has an almost cerebral feel to it, as it undulates and whirls around a wall of barely penetrable nastiness. The album is brought to a close with more swirling melody courtesy of ‘In Tenebris Ignis’ and after 38 minutes we are done.
As alluded to earlier, this clearly sits under the black metal umbrella but is a long way from the forefathers of the genre and if you are looking for ‘kult’ black metal with lo-fi recordings and homages to Satan you will be disappointed. However, if you want something which is sinister, malignant and dense, this could just what you are looking for. Not an easy listen, but a rewarding one if you put in the effort.
(8/10 Andy Pountney)
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