And herein lies a soundtrack to lost souls. Though this record does not sound like conventional black metal, its creator, Gonius Rex of Onirik has referred to it as an experimental black metal venture. It's a unique offering full of clean neo-classically inspired guitars and cryptic chants (All done in Portuguese) that outline tales of witchcraft, devil worship and damnation. The bands ability to conjure up images of some sort of twisted religious ceremony through the music is potent and it makes for a truly mesmerizing listen through and through.
There is something almost Lovecraftian about this record. Though the orchestrations are fairly sparse and the instrumentation minimal you sense that you are on the precipice of something that operates just beyond the fringes of human understanding. The off-kilter compositions and inhuman elegance of a track like 'No Inferno E Na Terra will claw at your mind and leave you wondering where you are going to go next. There is so much misery and torment that revels its way through this record, the Dante's Inferno of sound they conjure up here is not one that seeks to horrify with harsh sounds, but one that instead relies on demented atmospheres to drive the listener beyond the brink of madness.
As a general rule the performances on this record are truly excellent. Few bands can really execute with this level of tenebrous alacrity. While at first the concept behind the record didn't quite click, after multiple listens I came to terms with the fact that Gonius Rex has done it again. Once more he has left us in awe of his execution and clear minded compositions, it is simply that it sometimes takes the listener a little while to catch up with where he's at. For those in the loop, this is a thrilling offering and one that deserves spin after spin.
Pre-order on Bandcamp!
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-cor-do-fogo
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