Two climates, one hot and one icy combine together to make hideous chasmic noise here. On the one hand we have main composer W.uR also in Ab Imo Pectore, Angrenost, Israthoum from Portugal who handles most of what we hear on the projects second full-length album. Certainly not to be dismissed though we have Icelander Bjarni Einarsson (Sinmara / Rebirth of Nefast) putting on a remarkable drumming display that’s about as explosive as one could expect from a land currently embittered by earthquakes and volcanos. Following up from debut Heirloom Of Sullen Fall back in 2013 and a couple of splits and EP you may well have previously missed the work of Monte Penumbra. Once you get a dose of this blade edged weapon however their name will be indelibly carved in your skin.

This is thunderous stuff and incredibly dark and contagious too. The descriptively entitled ‘Black Mould On Rye Grass’ crunches into a hostile landscape with fire at its heart. Mournful melody seeps in the pores and the track surges in and consumes with hateful intensity. Vocals roar as facets of black, death and depressive doom combine and you are quickly aware that the next 40 minutes are going to leave one hell of a seismic impact. Its chaotic but with a certain sense of co-ordination, rough, raw but firmly honed like granite hewn rock weathered by the ages. It all drops out leaving a mournful guitar tone and palpable atmosphere, melody is nothing short of sublime and eerie, bones shatter with drum rolls between the calmness, voices seep out and the flattening curve is pounded hell for leather for a final dramatic assault complete with ceremonial clean vocal raptures. Phew, and that’s just the first track of six. This is deliciously dark and deadly stuff, with a huge sense the occult and orthodox over the ritualistic summation of tracks such as ‘To Anoint The Dead.’ A dizzying gravitas is forged from the maddening guitar weave and fans of French acts such as BaN and DsO will certainly find kindred spirituality from this massive assault. The drums too making a huge bouncing impact on the skull.

Further we twist and turn caught in the chaotic void of the title track, this churns and tears through the very firmament itself imbued with that air of gloom amidst the stygian heave and tremble of the concussive musicianship. Vocals roar and holler and are incredibly dramatic as they bark amidst the frenzy, it’s pretty damn frightening stuff and the extremity cannot be denied. There’s a certain grit and muddiness in the production making the heft all the more formidable and this number is a monster rearing up from leviathan depths, consuming all in its path. Further down the abyss we plummet and although a hellish ride, there’s a strong sense of turmoil and the destructive powers suggest a world in turmoil tearing itself apart, the oceans perhaps rising on ‘Foreboding in Tidal Breaths’ to boil and seethe and the Revelations are of a biblical scale. The claustrophobia is however broken up by that sudden drop out and lone guitar chord weeping misery at ruination and ambient parts mournfully foretell the next plague to descend. It all leads to the humungous finale, the 11-minute ‘Trephining the Severed Head of the Oracle.’ The seer may have predicted cataclysm but not even their bloody sacrifice can appease the god’s last terrifying assault. Perhaps you are best witnessing it all at the Bandcamp link below but be afraid, be very afraid as we vomit our way to the corruption of all that we hold dear and darkness replaces light forevermore…

(8/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100032095102014

https://montepenumbra.bandcamp.com/album/as-blades-in-the-firmament