Mártír

Aetherius Obscuritas is a Hungarian band formed by two members, already being around for eighteen years as they started the band in 2002. By the time writing this review, they have released eight full lengths, two demos and a split album. I hadn’t heard about them before Grimm Distribution, the label which released their latest album, sent me some of their albums to listen. Mártír, as they call it, was released in 15^th of April 2020 and it contains ten tracks which last for about forty-two minutes. I picked this one first because of the very interesting, simple but impressive cover as also the unique photos and generally the very nice presentation of the album in the booklet and fortunately I was rewarded for that choice.

This is a very talented band, and this becomes obvious by the first minutes of the album. Musically, the band is following the great Scandinavian Black Metal school, by creating melodic, beautiful and at the same time dark, brutal riffs and black and white, depressing images. There is a lot of variation concerning the riffing both for their pace and their style. The speed you will find in here goes from medium to fast speed and the changes between the various pace are often but very interesting. The riffing, most of the times is tremolo, presenting the melodies, accurately and passionately. The variation regarding the riffs, the pace and the images presented makes the album very interesting and the experience of the listener unique, although the style of the band is nothing new. Moreover, another unique and interesting touch is the atmospheric, acoustic intros of some tracks. The tracks last from three to six minutes and the impressive work that they have done for the structure of the compositions, makes the listening of the album a very smooth and pleasant experience. The lyrics of seven of the tracks are written in Hungarian while the rest three of them are written in English and, at least for the English ones, they are dark poems presenting aspects of life and philosophy in a dark and sometimes symbolic way.

As in music, so in the performance of the instruments and the rest of the arrangements, the band has done a very professional job. Every instrument is played with absolute accuracy but at the same time with much expressiveness and passion. The guitars is the main instrument which creates the atmosphere and the body of the scenery, alongside the few but very interesting keyboards and the touches of the acoustic guitar. The bass is audible and supports the compositions very well. The drums are very stable, full of energy, with a lot of changes, furious blastbits and generally a great performance. The vocals are harsh, demonic Black Metal vocals, very expressive and passionate. The production is warm, bassy and modern, stepping away from the traditional raw Black Metal sound, while the mixture is balanced producing an interesting result which suits the style of the compositions perfectly.

In conclusion, my impression is that Mártír is a great album. I don’t know anything else about this band neither have I listened to any of their older releases in order to compare and comment on their improvement through time. This album combines the spirit of the old school Black Metal with the modern era and on top of all, everything is done under an artistic aspect. I believe that this one will be appreciated by every Black Metal fan out there, so because the CD version is limited to 1000 copies, get your copy.