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CALDERUM
Mystical Fortress Of Iberian Lands

Death Prayer (2022)
Rating: 8/10

This one takes me back to the early 90s wave of black metal releases, particularly with that cover image. Calderum is a Spanish project, the brainchild of Lord Mortuorum, who is clearly still reliant on wearing corpse-paint and his grandmother’s old velvet cloak for effect.

I’m armed with candelabra for this one, descending into the depths of this citadel with trepidation as ‘Eternal Shadow’ twinkles with 80s horror synth aplomb. And then suddenly it’s as if the gatekeeper has opened the oaken door and a belfry of bats has rushed through the soul. Combing the depths of second wave black metal nuances, Calderum immediately and successfully combines those pacey blizzard gusts with grisly, dehydrated rasps of torture.

This is incredibly atmospheric black metal as its cover suggested. Evil riffs aplenty soak this void of grimness and the drums provide thorny thuds of dense mystery and foreboding. As with all fine and dandy black metal records though, Calderum’s boasts some superbly melodic charges alongside chunky, mid-tempo mysticism.

‘Possessed By The Full Moon’ runs like a crack appearing on a frozen lake where eventually there’s the reveal of icy depths. The percussion simmers like a pallid haze, constructing rainy gauze over this dismal yet enchanting black magic escapade.

‘Echoes Of The Misty Mountains’ tumbles from the fjords and is suitably triumphant in its lo-fi gleam. Again I note the rattling percussive work, and at times I’m in a Carpathian Forest realm whereby the evil is displayed with an air of heaviness rather than merely silver streaks of niftiness. The atmospheric synths bring further mysticism to the fore – the mid-tempo passages of murk are splendidly ravishing and an unexpected melodious twinge intervenes.

‘Chants Of Impiety’ begins like dungeon synth and plays out with enough sword n’ sorcery aesthetics to have you reaching for the Dungeons & Dragons board. But it’s mere preparation for my favourite cut on offer, the avalanche that is ‘Fortress Of Doom’; a blitzkrieg of blackened hellfire and charred, speeding evil. The galloping within will have you nodding your head, tapping your foot, and then it’s back to the ice skates for another screaming, wailing, scathing venture down the mountain into the abyss of biting snowdrifts.

Finally, album closer ‘The Enchanted Forest’ leads us further into the glen of bubbling pools, dew-damp meadows and glinting hills. It’s almost a stark contrast to the freezing evil bestowed upon us previously. But as a simple dungeon synth track it feels heroic, giving you a feeling of conquering the stark wastes, and it’s a fitting way to end this potent, powerful and devilish second full-length outing from one of the scene’s finest purveyors of second wave darkness.

Neil Arnold

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