Atrium are magnificent atmospheric black metal band, very much operating in the grand old style. This music is decidedly nerdy, but its the sort of things that devotees like myself fall in love with. The band leans into their atavistic tendencies and conjures up images of bands like old Summoning or even Druadan Forest. There is a distinctly 90s aesthetic that the band really leans into on their debut, Ancient Spells that captures the imagination with its blasphemy. The sort of thing that while definitely navel gazing in approach is something I can't help but to love.
There is something really magical about this band and their clear passion for the underground. It's the sort of grandiose one man project that projected a reign of terror throughout the 90s but has since sort of fallen by the wayside. The level of melancholy and fear behind this band though is powerful. They are executing in the grand old style and refusing to compromise in the way that we find so many of their peers doing. This is black metal that pays tribute to the genre the way it was meant to be. If that's a bit retro in execution, it doesn't matter. The whole point is to have dungeon synthy black metal to listen too alone on a cold night.
Ancient Spells is not reinventing black metal but that's not the point. Instead it is paying tribute to an amazing movement in the underground that has had the good fortune to persist for decades now. Atrium are a group who revel in sounding fresh out of the 90s and immersing yourself in that blasphemy is truly exciting. It's the sort of thing that transports you back in time and routinely proves that this is a one of a kind band with a unique story that can't help but to fascinate listeners and keep them entranced throughout.
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