In Dante’s Inferno, the second circle begins the proper punishment of Hell, a place where “no thing gleams.” It is reserved for those overcome with Lust, where carnal appetites hold sway over reason. In Nine Circles, it’s where we do shorter reviews of new (ish) albums that share a common theme.
For today’s edition we’ll dive in with two albums advertised as black metal influenced by the likes of Emperor, Dark Funeral, and more, but ultimately present prominent death metal influences; one in the form of chunky, crushing riffs and the other in a more melodic, flashier way. Some interesting synths and impeccable soloing also round these albums out, so let’s descend and see what the new material from Thanatotherion and Mythraeum have to offer.
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Alienation Manifesto is the debut album from Thanatotherion — a new project helmed by Ominous Droning, aka Shelby Lermo (Ulthar, ex-Vastum). Ultimately this album sounds like a blacker, less bass-heavy take on the chunky death metal riffage and soloing of Ulthar; while advertised as black thrash, there’s very apparent similarities to Lermo’s other band in the dive bomb guitar solos and constantly moving, frenetic riffs (featuring dissonant squeals aplenty). If the giant Lovecraftian horror that adorns the album cover was any indication this album might be a bit weird, the most interesting aspect of Alienation Manifesto ultimately is the spooky synths and ambient interludes that litter the album.
While keyboards are present throughout, during some of the most intense riffs on the album they are only heard as a flat buzz cutting through the pummeling black/death fury; while this is kind of off-putting, with what the music seems to be going for I think it’s completely intentional. “The Raven and the Box of Stars” almost hits industrial territory in its slower sections, and the shorter interludes “Orb” and “Lament” are an eerie collage of synths, piano, distorted speech samples, and more. The crux of the album is closer “Codex Crepusculum,” which takes all the elements discussed so far and brings it together into a single 12-minute track — it even concludes with some field recordings taken at the Mua Caves of Vietnam. While not quite reaching the heights of Ulthar’s Anthronomicon/Helionomicon albums released last March, if you’re itching for the next closest thing you need not look any further than Thanatotherion.
Alienation Manifesto is available now on I, Voidhanger Records. For more information on Thanatotherion, check out their Bandcamp page.
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While San Diego is usually too far for me to travel for shows (unless it’s something really special), I know that I’ve seen Mythraeum at least once or twice down there going back all the way to 2017; not only are they a common appearance for SoCal bills, but they even won the Wacken Metal Battle USA in 2022 to secure a spot at the biggest metal festival in the world. Once I learned that they were releasing their first full-length after being signed to a label, I knew I had to check out what these local stalwarts have to offer. Oblivion Aeternam is highly martial, energetic, melodic black metal with occasional grand symphonic moments and a sharp, but crisp death metal edge often underlying the riffs (death metal of a melodic, early CoB/Wintersun-esque variety that is). The secret ingredient that sets Mythraeum apart from their contemporaries is the plethora of virtuosic leads and solos that litter the album; melodic and very legato, they often sound closer to what you might hear in an instrumental prog metal band, yet here it just works — look no further than the twin guitar harmonies and technical soloing on “Harbinger’s Chant” to discover the musical heights the band is capable of reaching.
A lot of what I’d derogatorily consider “modern black metal” are bands seeming perfectly content with simply retreading old trails first laid in the ’90s, doing little to bring much new and fresh to the genre aside from some sort of aesthetic gimmick; the only difference may just a much more polished production job that takes away the edge that made black metal so great in the first place. Mythraeum certainly have a very clean and clear sound, but there’s just enough flashiness and technicality to keep Oblivion Aeternam consistently enjoyable and — dare I use the word — fun. As far as melodic black metal bands implementing technical solos go they’re still a far cry from my beloved Moonlight Sorcery, but it’s great to see a local mainstay reach this point. I hope they continue moving up the extreme metal ranks and gain both black metal fans and beyond after this release, as this album absolutely has the potential for wide appeal.
Oblivion Aeternam is available now on M-Theory Audio. For more information on Mythraeum, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.
— Colin
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