Anyone has a Latin dictionary? Here is the impressive debut from Minnesota’s Atrum Inritus and as you can tell from the moniker, album title and track titles like “Aegrus Evert”, ” Sacramentum Exeuntium”, ” Tenebris Descendi” and “Ephemera”, there’s no doubt about what we are dealing with here: Black metal.
While all the above and even the sound of Atrum Inritus point towards a one/two man basement black metal project (I get a vibe that reminds me of fellow Minnesotans Azrael here and there) , the fact is Atrum Inritus is a full five piece band consisting of some veterans of a more cult act (Teratism). However, the sound I hear the most when listening to Prognatus In Vorago is the debut from Norway’s Bloodthorn, In the Shadow of Your Black Wings. Remember them? Even more so when the band is delivering a more controlled, doom-y and atmospheric form of black metal — which is most of the time.
Though not as full produced as the aforementioned album (though still well produced), the plodding pace, long songs and slightly ethereal mood created by the rangy riffs and touches of melancholic mood really enforce the feel. Don’t believe me? Just go straight to “The Chains That Bind”, “Aegrus Evert” , start of “Ephemera” or moments of “Sacramentum Exeuntium” for some controlled double bass despondence. Not dreary, suicidal depressive black metal but just a melancholic lope. All they are missing are some soprano female vocals and fantasy themes. Plus, the vocals, (which incidentally are actually delivered by a female, Vindicare who does the synths also) are a pretty consistent mid-range rasp — no veering into suicidal moans, whisper or howls. Sure, there’s moments of more feral, traditional black metal (start of the “Ladder of Divine Descent”, bits of “Ephemera”), but they are relatively few and far between and surface as bursts amid the steady, restrained atmosphere. Oh, be sure to stick around after the mid-song silence of “Ladder of Divine Descent” for a nifty cover of Emperor‘s “Ancient Queen”. A perfectly paced song for Atrum Inritus‘s chosen sound.
A pretty promising debut from both the band and the label and I hope to hear more from both in 2012.
