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OCCULTUM
In Nomine Rex Inferni

Old Temple / Strange Aeons (2018)
Rating: 8/10

There’s a peculiarity in hearing the vocals of Occultum’s Gavron, and however much I try to take this Polish black metal release seriously I just can’t help but think of numerous cartoon characters as those wild warbles filter through the black, despondent haze of music.

Having said that, Occultum is still a very good extreme metal act; their brand of catchy, atmospheric and at times punky and stifling noise is of high quality.

In Nomine Rex Inferni is the band’s follow-up to their 2016 debut Towards Eternal Chaos, and we get 47-minutes encasing seven lengthy-ish tunes that feature dry, concise speedy guitars and equally dehydrated lo-fi drums and bass.

This isn’t particularly scathing or even heavy by design. Black plumes of doom seem to wisp gleefully alongside those pitch caverns, particularly with opener ‘Skulls Instead Of Candles’ which brings wicked haste and gruelling depth. The vocals are something I can live without though; the blurts being an unwelcome distraction to those tight, cloying guitar streaks which almost feel restricted yet exuding menace.

“And so the night has come!” beams Gavron on the galloping strikes of ‘Possessed By The Night’, although one feels he’s toasting a fair maiden with a tankard of ale in his local inn rather than celebrating something more sinister. But again the music makes up for this with those enveloping grim trudges; Occultum giving off whiffs of a claustrophobic Darkthrone tightness.

Hand claps of admiration go to the malevolent rumbles of ‘Hanged Man’ with its hasty percussion and chilly simmering, while ‘Altars Among The Dead’ heightens the feeling of suffocating dread with its stark chords of doom and churning riffs of evil. The blistering pace then provides a frosty jerk, although all within the crypt remains deathly still as Gavron speaks of “The Full Moon, The ritual should start, Altars placed among the dead, Bones scattered around the altars, Only pure evil and death”, although for all I know he could be bleating “suffering succotash”!

Another favourite is the sprinting gleam of ‘Black Art Of Necromancy’; a wonderfully obscure and remote rush of ill wind and black oil combined. Meanwhile, closer ‘The Last Waltz With Death’ has a certain stuffy, choking feel as the cymbals hiss with sombreness and the asphyxiating trudge only thickens the blackness.

Occultum exist as a darkly caped entity smothering those foolish enough to step into the shadows. For me a nastier vocal gurgle would have worked better, but again, look past the less commanding chirrups and you’ll still be stifled by this impure curtain of darkness.

Neil Arnold

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