Missa Mortvm

Missa Mortvm (Chile)

Et Lux Perpetua Luceat Eis...

release: August 22, 2015

Satanath Records

This week I have been impressed with this Chilean black metal band: the careful instrumentation and the great effort to give the guitar work identity and color, creativity and personality, are all traits that stand out. The rhythms sound great and all, but above the rhythms there is another element of melody, tremolo melody, that takes the songs further and higher. Moreover, there are other aspects of the guitar playing to notice, not just one type of melody. More will be discovered with additional listens.

The drummer puts on a veritable clinic on extreme metal drumming: when to do double bass for more effect; how to time the kicks to a particular melody or rhythm; how to vary the kicks to make them stand out when you are listening; how to do black metal blasting; when to blast, when not to; how to avoid monotony; how and when to utilize various parts of the drum set with imagination, so on and so forth.

When the above guitar and drums skills are joined with a feel for songwriting, that’s when things get really interesting. In this case, the effect is immediate and undeniable, if you are into black metal.

The vocals are not the shrieking type, which means that more people will like them, as the shrieking tends to irritate some people. The vocals are gruff, with some screams here and there. It is in this department, if anything, that I would have liked a bit more mishegas or unpredictability or more unleashing.

This band is a bit of a mystery because, apparently, this album is almost completely the work of a single person, except for the bass. Bandcamp says that Ots does everything, and AJ plays bass. In the live setting Ots does vocals and plays drums, while AJ plays bass and Marbas plays guitar. Anyway, this is not beginner black metal nor is it shlock black metal. Metal Archives says that this is the first album, so great things are on the horizon in the future if this not a one-off album.

www.satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat128-missa-mortvm-et-lux-perpetua-luceat-eis-2015

www.facebook.com/MissaMortvm