Óreiða/Holocausto Em Chamas - 10" Split

This split features sinister black metal from two different nations. There is absolutely nothing new or fancy about the style on this 10”, and neither do these bands hone on any of the rock friendly tones of first wave black metal or black n roll. Quite simply this is the Portuguese label Signal Rex at its best, offering the legions another crunchy wave of diabolical noise. 

Óreiða is the first band on the split. Early Darkthrone and Emperor influence is immediately recognizable on the pulverizing track “Blindur.” The return of this enigmatic Icelandic act carves out another necessary grab for their cult following, following their breakthrough demo. Clocking in at just under ten minutes, Óreiða’s track is an ominous whirlwind of complete black metal decimation.

Holocausto Em Chamas have an ethereal raw sound reminiscent of old school Darkthrone or Burzum. They’re a Portuguese duo with something to prove, as this is their second sonic malice, as well. The drum echo is dominantly heavy on each of their three tracks on this 10”, which is pretty characteristic of second wave black metal and its progeny of modern filth.

The split clocks in at twenty minutes. With no breaks or time to catch a breath, this pedigree of old school black metal courts the contemptable and depraved with no regards for safe metal.

Anatomia - Cranial Obsession

The brooding dimensions of doom metal, when combined with the bludgeoning gifts of death metal, can go so many interesting places, and Anatomia has managed to open a number of doors with their motley merger of the two primal forces in heavy metal’s most infernal genres.

Throughout Cranial Obsession, the music rocks back and forth between hypnotic dirges and clobbering riffs that honor death metal’s most sacred pioneers like Morbid Angel, Entombed, and Obituary. In fact, one might draw parallels to Entombed’s sophomore album Clandestine. 

Anatomia’s riffs echo with that same abrasive sound that conjures images of death and decay. Although doom certainly is the more prominent style in the album, don’t let that mislead you into thinking Anatomia isn’t capable of pulling some really brutal mid-tempo riffs.

The Japanese rarely disappoint in categories of extreme metal, so it should be no shocker that Anatomia is really good at what they do.

My favorite song on the album hits at the midway point; “Excarnated” is a cryptic tune that combines gargled chanting over a looped series of foreboding chords for nearly ten minutes. This is an outstanding use of minimalism to convey darker energy without exhausting the listener. One might even feel themselves slipping away into Japan’s ominous Sea of Trees. Toward the conclusion, the song twists into a nefarious procession that befits the track title.

Anatomia’s Cranial Obsession fulfills all of the raw and rough edges of death metal without compromising the lethargy of a classic doom metal act.

Ignis Haereticum - Autocognition of Light

Autocognition of Light begins with the “Glorious Wounds”, a track that pulls the senses apart and pummels the listener with a ruthless incorporation of raw energetic blast beats and eerie rhythmic single note picking that cascades into a gloomy opus. The song peaks in and out at frequent transitional moments, but the band never wanders from the macabre ritualistic charm that drives their motif.

The minimalistic songwriting helps to drive the primal theme; however, the album certainly lacks strength in variety. Three songs into the album, Autocognition of Light presents itself for all that it’s worth, a chaotic instrument of Luciferian gnostic spiritual liberation, but ultimately cliché and short of outstanding.

Although I appreciate the atmospheric theme that bands like Ignis Haereticum are approaching, so often the template becomes the inevitable enemy of artistic ambition. In this case, I just found Autocognition of Light to be a desolate marker on the plain of esoteric antichristian gnostic bands, and I don’t mean desolate in the way that conjures cool blackened visuals either.

The cyclone of blackened material that sludges its way through 40 minutes could have been better if the whole thing did not feel so contrived, or if it were released simply as a three or four song EP.