Tag Archives: avantgarde black metal

Metal Chick of the Month – Laura Nardelli

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From lucidity into darkness…

Another year begins, another badass bassist arrives at The Headbanging Moose to kick your goddamn ass mercilessly! A true she-demon who masters the dark arts of Black, Death and Doom Metal, she’s not only a beast armed with her bass, but she’s also a guitarist, a tattoo artist, a body artist and an illustrator with a massive portfolio. Her name is Laura Nardelli, also known as Aura Negativa or Daphoene, the bassist for Italian Black/Death Metal horde Askesis, who’s also part of the bands Bottomless, and who was also involved in a very interesting project named Ponte del Diavolo under the moniker Laurus. Oh Yeah, Laura is an unstoppable force of extreme music, and you’re certainly going to be mesmerized by her undeniable talent both as a musician and as an artist, darkening our hearts in the best way imaginable.

Born on January 25, 1993 in Italy, which means our humble tribute to her contributions to the world of heavy music will also be our birthday gift to her, Laura seems to be quite reserved in terms of her personal life, letting her music and her art speak on her behalf. There aren’t any interviews with her available anywhere, which makes it difficult to talk about her origins, her idols and influences, and even her opinion in non-music or arts subjects, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve to be feature on The Headbanging Moose; quite the contrary, it will be a true pleasure reviewing her amazing career so far, starting with her main band, the sulfurous Askesis.

Forged in the fires of Venice in 2013, the ruthless entity Askesis, or ἄσκησις, meaning “ascetism” or “self-discipline” in Ancient Greek, has been blasting a beyond caustic mix of Black and Death Metal in their sound, delivering a listening experience that is raw and violent while simultaneously captivating and hypnotic. Since the band’s genesis, the core lineup has featured Laura Nardelli on bass (as well as on the guitars from 2018 to 2022) and Samuele Scalise on drums, who have been joined by vocalist Nico Fabbri and guitarists Gregorio Di Angilla and Juri Vatova in 2022. Their songs are linked by an existentialist theme that takes up concepts from Ancient Greek myths, projecting them into today’s world. The band invites the listeners to confront their own fears, contradictions, and desires, encouraging introspection and contemplation on the complexities of existence.

Under the moniker of Aura Negativa, Laura has released with Askesis the EP The Path to Absence, in 2016, followed by a 2018 demo titled Black Ontology, and more recently their 2023 debut full-length opus Beyond the Fate of Death, this one in particular drawing inspiration from The Myth Of Sisyphys by Albert Camus to express their personal visions of our “non-existence”, plus a split with Italian Black Metal band Nox Interitus titled Wrecks from Cosmos (which you can listen in full HERE and HERE), released in 2016.

As aforementioned, the band’s name, meaning “asceticism” from Ancient Greek, is “man’s horror of the being of which his own phenomenon is an expression, of the will to live, of the core and essence of a world recognized as full of pain,” and you can experience all that in their music by streaming or purchasing their albums on BandCamp and on Spotify, plus you can also enjoy some live footage of the band like this full show at Summer Metal Festival in Codroipo, Italy, in 2019, or simply click HERE for all things Askesis, letting their blackened sounds penetrate deep inside your psyche.

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Laura is also the bassist for two other amazing bands, Bottomless and Restos Humanos. Bottomless are an Italian Doom Metal band hailing from Treviso, Veneto and Bologna, Emilia-Romagna formed in 2016 by drummer David Lucido, vocalist and guitarist Giorgio Trombino, and bassist Sara Bianchin, with Sara being replaced by Laura in 2023. The band already had two albums released when Laura joined them, but in 2024 they released a split named Graveyard Thunder together with Brazilian Doom Metal band Witching Altar, with each band recording three songs for the split, and you can enjoy all six songs on BandCamp and on Spotify, with the songs by Bottomless being titled Burning of the Vampire, Lightning in the Realms of Death, and Shadows Call. If the music by Bottomless is dark and sluggish, Italian/Colombian act Restos Humanos play a visceral fusion of Death Metal and Grindcore, and while Laura was part of the band in the mid-2010’s (replacing Sara Bianchin as their bass player on stage in a few concerts) they recorded the live album Grindin’ the Garage, in 2016, available in full on BandCamp.

Apart from those, you can also find her contributions to a phenomenal Italian Blackened Doom Metal band named Ponte del Diavolo, which means means “devil’s bridge” in Italian, formed in the winter of 2020 in a jam involving members of Feralia, Inchiuvatu, Abjura and Askesis. Laura, who went by the monicker of Laurus during her period with the band from 2020 until 2024, played bass in three of their EPs, those being Mystery of Mystery (2020), Sancta Menstruis (2022), and Ave Scintilla! (2022), and in their 2024 full-length album Fire Blades from the Tomb. You can enjoy all of those albums on Spotify or any other streaming service, as well as the official videos for the songs Demone, Covenant and Nocturnal Veil.

As aforementioned, Laura is also an accomplished dark and esoteric tattoo and body artist, specializing in black work, dotwork, linework, medievale, sketchy, and hatching, working at Iguana Tattoo, while she’s also responsible for several artworks for different metal bands out there, always under her darkly beautiful nickname Aura Negativa. For instance, she took care of the artwork for the 2016 EP The Path to Absence, by her band Askesis; of the artwork for the 2024 single Moth to a Flame, by Italian Symphonic/Melodic Death Metal band Bloody Unicorn; of the artworks and logos of all her releases with Ponte del Diavolo, those being Mystery of Mystery, Sancta Menstruis, Ave Scintilla! and Fire Blades from the Tomb; or the artwork for the 2020 album Necrofagia, by Italian Avantgarde Black Metal band Prometeus; of the artwork for the 2020 single The Hanged Ballad and the 2021 EP Dark Italian Art, by Italian Progressive Black/Heavy Metal horde Selvans; and last but certainly not least, of the design for the 2023 album Helvegr, by Norwegian Black Metal masters Tsjuder. She’s indeed a determined, inexorable she-wolf of heavy music as you can see, and I honestly can’t wait to witness the next steps in her already solid and vibrant career both as a musician and as an artist.

Laura Nardelli’s Official Facebook page
Laura Nardelli (Tattoo & Graphic Artist)’s Official Facebook page
Laura Nardelli (Tattoo & Body Artist)’s Official Instagram
Laura Nardelli (Artworks)’s Official Instagram
Askesis’ Official Facebook page
Askesis’ Official Instagram

Album Review – Odious Spirit / The Treason Of Consciousness (2024)

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Terrifying and exhilarating at the same time, the debut opus by this Avantgarde Black and Death Metal entity describes an infinite cycle of creation, transformation and destruction of which we are unaware prisoners.

The brainchild of James Oskarbski, a musician from Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States, already active in Execrable and 8 Hour Animal, the ruthless Avantgarde Black/Death Metal entity Odious Spirit plays dark, experimental heavy music with hypnotic and minimal guitars, succeeding in the miraculous aim of fusing together Voivod, Immolation and Mick Barr’s Ocrilim in long and trance-inducing songs, exactly like what can be found in the project’s debut effort The Treason of Consciousness. Written, recorded and mixed by James himself, mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, wrapped in a majestic cover painting by Martín Riveros Baxter (with visual design by Francesco Gemelli), and featuring guest musicians Cullen Gallagher on bass and Daniel Torgal on drums, the album is characterized by James’ dense intertwining of guitars, capable of creating cosmic psychedelic vortices that engulf everything and which are often pushed towards heights of paroxysmal violence, terrifying and exhilarating at the same time, while the philosophical themes of the lyrics are refracted in its fractal folds, centered on concepts of space and time, repetition and decadence, thus describing an infinite cycle of creation, transformation and destruction of which we are unaware prisoners.

Like a creature oozing sheer doom and darkness, the trio begins their infernal feast of Black and Death Metal in Long Stretch of Bleeding Light, with James’ cadaverous roars walking hand in hand with the experimental, intricate kitchen by Cullen and Daniel; whereas 11 minutes of wicked experimentations, caustic riffs and venomous beats and fills are offered by such an amazing entity hailing form the United States in The Hissing Pyre, presenting a sick guitar work by James who delivers nonstop scorching riffs that will burn your soul mercilessly. In other words, it can’t get any more intricate and demented than this, flowing into the one hundred percent experimental tune Illuminations, a phantasmagorical creation by Odious Spirit that will drag you to the netherworld before Gnawing the Fabric of Time offers an overdose of cryptic, poetic lyrics gnarled by James (“Placed him there / To fight the strand / Bleeding man / Bleeding man / To fight the strand / Denied”) while the music is a hurricane of unrelenting, visceral Black and Death Metal.  Lastly, we’re treated to over eight minutes of the hammering drums by Daniel and the rumbling bass lines by Cullen in Unbending Follicle, Unending Blight, while James continues to extract darkness and rage from his axe, therefore piercing our damned minds ruthlessly.

James and his untamed beast named Odious Spirit are waiting for you on Instagram with more details about such an interesting project of the underworld, and if you’re brave enough to put your hands on one of the most caustic albums of the current scene (available in full on YouTube and on Spotify), you can grab your copy of it from the I, Voidhanger Records’ BandCamp page, as well as from Metal Odissey in both the United States and Europe in CD format. The violence and heaviness found in The Treason Of Consciousness, plus of course its unique psychedelic and experimental vibe, make it a must-listen for anyone looking for a breathe of fresh air in heavy music, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Odious Spirit as the years go by and the project continues to explore new lands and sounds exactly like what was done in its debut effort.

Best moments of the album: The Hissing Pyre and Gnawing the Fabric of Time.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2024 I, Voidhanger Records

Track listing
1. Long Stretch of Bleeding Light 6:46
2. The Hissing Pyre 11:02
3. Illuminations 5:18
4. Gnawing the Fabric of Time 4:02
5. Unbending Follicle, Unending Blight 8:31

Band members
James Oskarbski – vocals, guitars

Guest musicians
Cullen Gallagher – bass
Daniel Torgal – drums

Album Review – DSKNT / Vacuum γ-Noise Transition (2021)

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One of the most unique projects of the Swiss metal scene returns in full force with a reality-destroying album that takes shape as a dark and multidimensional hallucination deep into reality’s most cryptic and terrifying truths.

Fully conceived, recorded, produced and mastered by the band itself within the confines of their own studio, the brand new album by Swiss Black Metal monstrosity DSKNT, the horrific Vacuum γ​-​Noise Transition, can be seen as a devouring nightmare of omnipotent sonic annihilation conceived at the most liminal edges of sanity, pushing the boundaries of Experimental Metal further and further. Formed in 2013 in Sion, a city in the southwestern Swiss canton of Valais, DSKNT first emerged in 2017 out of total obscurity in their native homeland with an unexpected and insanely crushing self-recorded debut album titled PhSPHR Entropy, but it’s now in 2021 that vocalist Quasar and multi-instrumentalist Asknt are ready to pulverize our senses with Vacuum γ​-​Noise Transition, a reality-destroying album that takes shape as a dark and multidimensional hallucination deep into reality’s most cryptic and terrifying truths, embraced by a primeval yet darkly futuristic artwork by AntïGraphic.

Eerie and cryptic from the very first second, the disruptive and atmospheric noises from the intro Spin set the stage for DSKNT to crush our minds in Deconvolution J/ψ [Part I], with Asknt smashing his guitars and drums mercilessly in great Black Metal fashion while Quasar vociferates the song’s otherworldly words manically, sending an austere message to mankind (“Bend the Origins. Destructurate. / Behind the sporadic affliction of Negated, the utter halogenic radiance. / Crawling mechanics of void disturbance. / Degenerating. Ravenous partial reconfiguration of abscond deity.”). After such infernal and experimental start, it’s time for the duo to keep hammering our souls in Transition K0 [Part I], showcasing infernal blast beats and fills, countless breaks and variations and an endless sense of dementia, all spearheaded by the inhumane roars by Quasar in order to make things even more hellish and dissident.

There’s no time to breathe as DSKNT’s thunderous sounds keep permeating the air in the Death and Black Metal extravaganza Θ-Noise – Phase Shift, presenting elements from Avantgarde Black Metal in the piercing riffage blasted by Asknt; whereas an absolute feel of despair impregnates each and every instrument in the also noise-fueled aria Transition Ω- [Part II], where the duo continues to mix the past, present and future of extreme music, resulting in a wicked and fulminating sound that could be labeled as “Apocalyptic Black Metal”. Then get ready for a 9-minute dissonant Black Metal voyage together with DSKNT entitled Deconvolution Ξ*0 [Part II], sounding and feeling noisy and distorted from the very first second, with Quasar’s demonic gnarls walking hand in hand with the hurricane of riffs, bass jabs and beats brought forth by Asknt. Put differently, it couldn’t have sounded more tormenting nor more austere than what it already does, darkly morphing into the vile outro Spore, as dissonant as the album’s intro, putting the perfect “full circle” conclusion to such entertaining album of extreme music.

The music by DSKNT is all around us, and you can experience such distinct metal voyage by purchasing Vacuum γ​-​Noise Transition from a vast array of locations including the band’s own BandCamp page, the Sentient Ruin Laboratories’ BandCamp page or webstore, Apple Music, Season of Mist (CD and cassette), Midheaven Mailorder, Cargo Records, and ebullition.com, or simply stream it as many times as you want on Spotify. Needless to say, you should also start following DSKNT on Facebook and on Instagram to stay up-to-date with all things surrounding this insane project, including new music, new videos and tour dates. And after knowing more about DKSNT and their disturbing creations, you’ll then realize metal music can go much further than the boundaries and limits you’re accustomed to.

Best moments of the album: Θ-Noise – Phase Shift and Deconvolution Ξ*0 [Part II].

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2021 Sentient Ruin Laboratories

Track listing
1. Spin 3:03
2. Deconvolution J/ψ [Part I] 7:38
3. Transition K0 [Part I] 6:39
4. Θ-Noise – Phase Shift 5:59
5. Transition Ω- [Part II] 7:20
6. Deconvolution Ξ*0 [Part II] 9:17
7. Spore 3:23

Band members
Quasar – vocals
Asknt – all instruments

Album Review – Dreams of the Drowned / Dreams of the Drowned I (2019)

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Take a deep dive into the first full-length album by an Avantgarde Black Metal one-man band from France, representing years of wandering in a necromantic attempt to keep the fire of some long-time missing aesthetics burning.

Created in 2007 in Évreux, a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy, by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Camille (from Smohalla and Stagnant Waters), Avantgarde Black Metal one-man band Dreams of the Drowned is finally releasing its debut full-length album, entitled Dreams of the Drowned I, a decade after the band’s 2018 debut demo and the 2019 EP Thanatotropic Principle. A mixture of Experimental Black Metal and anarchist European witchcraft, the music by Dreams of the Drowned is highly inspired by bands such as Ved Buens Ende, Killing Joke, Emperor, Blind Idiot God and Amebix, with Dreams of the Drowned I representing years of wandering in a necromantic attempt to keep the fire of some long-time missing aesthetics burning, dealing with obscure topics such as atypical mental states, the feeling of loss, the forest, and the will to reclaim long-gone connections and power from within.

Ominous, atmospheric sounds emerge from the crypts of Hades in the instrumental piece Dream I, setting the tone for the hypnotizing Conciliabules, where Camille beings extracting Stygian notes from his guitar and bass while his vocal lines couldn’t sound more avantgarde and grim, resulting in a sonic onrush of modern and thrilling sounds and tones that will certainly disturb your peace of mind. The Revolutionary Dead is even more atmospheric and eccentric than its predecessor, with Camille going full Black Metal on vocals, roaring and gnarling deeply and rabidly, accompanied by the nonstop rumbling sounds coming from all instruments.

In Real and Sound, the main riff feels like a modern and obscure version of Judas Priest’s classic “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’”, sounding very experimental and not as Black Metal as the other songs, all boosted by its wicked lyrics (“Longtime buried, my inner worlds without ends / Real enough, as long as I feed them / Reconstruct through invisible, through immanence / Where seems there’s none, I’ll grow as many senses as I can / Swarms of wounders? Crutches of faith / I’ll wash my time of those void-filled taints which prevents it to be / Let the wanderers see what they chose to see / The wounded put the S back to their realities”), whereas in Vieilles Pierres our talented multi-instrumentalist Camille slows things down a bit and sounds as mournful and eerie as possible, delivering another solid fusion of Atmospheric Black Metal with more avantgarde nuances and ending in an ethereal way before he comes crushing with the pulverizing Avantgarde Black Metal hymn Crawl of Concretes,  with the poetic words flowing from his vocals exhaling madness, despair and rage (“Oh precious trees and smells, priceless paths / Sceneries of inner legends… / I knew it alive, I knew it lived in these green brown darknesses / Felt it swarming with earth magick, felt it thrive in harmonies”).

In the somber Danced there isn’t a single second of peace or hope for our minds, it’s just an avalanche of darkened sounds blasted by Camille in the form of Avantgarde Black Metal infused with hints of progressiveness, with a classic Black Metal aura generated by the song’s unstoppable blast beats. Furthermore, madness just keeps growing in intensity until the song’s slashing finale, setting the stage for Dreams of the Drowned’s cover version for the song Midnattskogens Sorte Kjerne, originally released by Norwegian Avantgarde Black Metal entity Dodheimsgard in their 1995 album Kronet Til Konge (take a listen at the original version HERE). Featuring Norwegian musician Aldrahn (from The Deathtrip, Thorns and Urarv) on vocals, who’s by the way the song’s original inceptor, this is indeed a sensational version by Dreams of the Drowned, maintaining the song’s primeval core essence intact while at the same time adding his own devilish twist, with the guitars sounding truly mesmerizing. And in order to give a proper conclusion to the album and beautifully close the circle, Camille offers the phantasmagorical instrumental outro Dream III, showcasing strident guitars and low-tuned bass that will pierce your skull ruthlessly.

In summary, although Avantgarde Black Metal might not be considered an easy listen to the average fan of rock and metal music, Dreams of the Drowned I ends up being a recommended album for newcomers to the cryptic and eccentric sounds of the genre, partially thanks to the above average production of the album, making its overall sound a lot clearer and sharp than several similar bands and albums, but mainly due to the undisputed creativity and dexterity presented by Camille in each and every song. Hence, don’t forget to pay Camille a visit on Facebook, subscribe to his YouTube channel, and if the music found in Dreams of the Drowned I truly soothes your soul and captivates your thoughts, you can purchase the album from the band’s own BandCamp page or from the Duplicate Records’ BandCamp page. Because, in the end, by showing your utmost support now to Camille and his Dreams of the Drowned, I’m pretty sure he won’t take another ten years to provide our avid ears more of his dark and enthralling music.

Best moments of the album: The Revolutionary Dead and Crawl of Concretes.

Worst moments of the album: Vieilles Pierres.

Released in 2019 Drowned Anthems Records/Cult Of Nine Records

Track listing
1. Dream I (Instrumental) 3:05
2. Conciliabules 6:32
3. The Revolutionary Dead 5:47
4. Real and Sound 6:28
5. Vieilles Pierres 6:48
6. Crawl of Concretes 6:57
7. Danced 9:22
8. Midnattskogens Sorte Kjerne (Dodheimsgard cover) 8:43
9. Dream III (Instrumental) 3:08

Band members
Camille – vocals, guitars, bass, drums, synths

Guest musician
Aldrahn – vocals on “Midnattskogens Sorte Kjerne”

Album Review – Bergraven / Det Framlidna Minnet (2019)

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Never shy of venturing to the very edge of the extreme music terrain, this cult Experimental Black Metal unity from Sweden is back after 10 years with a brand new album dealing with memories, regret and despair.

Swedish Experimental Black Metal unity Bergraven is never shy of venturing to the very edge of the extreme music terrain and staring into the maddening abyss, delivering an always interesting and unique fusion of a wide range of styles such as Progressive Metal, Avantgarde/Atmospheric Black Metal and Post-Black Metal that penetrates deep inside our ears and minds. Now in 2019 the band formed in 2002 in the city of Hässleholm, but currently located in Malmö, is ready to take us on another vibrant journey beyond the boundaries of Black Metal with their brand new opus, entitled Det Framlidna Minnet, or “the lost memory” in English, ten years after the release of the excellent Till Makabert Väsen.

Carefully mastered by T. Stjerna at the renowned Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Armagedda, Mayhem, Shining) in Stockholm, Det Framlidna Minnet deals with memories, their fluid nature and how the healthy human spirit builds a wall around itself with adjusted memories, and yet sometimes the system corrupts and memories become ghosts that haunt their hosts with regret and despair. If these words are not enough to show you the true uniqueness and potency of the music by Bergraven, which by the way means “mountain black” in English, then let the triumvirate comprised of Pär Stille  on vocals and guitar (also known for his work as guitarist and songwriter for Swedish Black Metal band Stilla), Andreas Johansson on bass and Johan Marklund on drums guide you on a one-way journey into the realms of experimental heavy music made in Scandinavia.

The intro Minnesgåva (“memory gift”) provides the listener a very good idea of how wicked and bizarre Bergraven’s music is, with all its eerie noises and beats permeating the air until Allt (“all”) comes to haunt our souls with its creepy atmosphere and piercing guitar lines, while Pär begins his growling attack barking like a demon, with the music flowing demonically and obscurely into an abrupt and vile ending. Den Följsamma Plågan (“the painful plague”) is even more eccentric and experimental, with Pär and Andreas making sure even the acoustic moments do not sound calm at all, always adding a touch of dementia to their musicality in seven minutes of Post-Black Metal not recommended for the lighthearted (not to mention how its ending reeks sheer melancholy and insanity). And the metallic bass punches by Andreas and the Doom Metal-inspired beats by Johan provide Pär all he needs to roar in Minnets Melankoli (“memory of melancholy”), a Mastodon-meets-Gojira-meets-Dream Theater-meets pitch black darkness tune where the music alternates between serene, somber passages and a disturbing havoc for our total delectation.

Swedish words flow disturbingly from Pär’s deranged vocals throughout the over eight minutes of modern, progressive and doom-ish Post-Metal in Leendet Av Hans Verk (“the smile of his work”), where Johan’s beats get more and more obscure as the music progresses, adding even more thunder to the song’s visceral riffs and menacing ambience, followed by Den Dödes Stigar (“the paths of death”), bringing elements from Folk Metal to Bergraven’s already distinguished musicality. Furthermore, Pär doesn’t stop vociferating deeply and with a lot of anguish while Johan smashes his drums beautifully, resulting in a very detailed song that’s full of breaks, variations and creepy passages, remaining dense and enfolding from start to finish. Then get ready to be dragged into the pits of hell with over ten minutes of disturbing Experimental Black Metal in Till Priset Av Vårt Liv (“for the price of our lives”), led by Pär’s sulfurous gnarls and slashing riffs. In addition, it’s interesting to see how the trio gradually reduces the song’s pace and speed, slowly attracting us to their sonic realm, capturing our souls and keeping us in darkness forever. And there’s still time for a beyond dissident outro similar to the album’s intro, this time entitled Eftermäle (“posthumous reputation”), as if the band wanted to close the circle offering us a feast of whimsical sounds and tones.

You can actually savor all of Bergraven’s eccentricity by listening to Det Framlidna Minnet in full on Spotify, but if you’re already convinced of the band’s undeniable talent and insanity, you can also follow them on Facebook and purchase your copy of the album from the Nordvis Produktion’s BandCamp or webstore (in Digipak or LP format), as well as from iTunes, Amazon or Discogs. It’s not everyday that we, mere mortals, have the pleasure of facing such peculiar, nonconformist music like the one blasted by Bergraven, so don’t waste your time and succumb to the most unconventional side of Swedish heavy music together with Mr. Pär Stille and his horde. It’s surely worth the ride.

Best moments of the album: Allt, Minnets Melankoli and Den Dödes Stigar.

Worst moments of the album: Den Följsamma Plågan.

Released in 2019 Nordvis Produktion

Track listing
1. Minnesgåva 2:25
2. Allt 5:56
3. Den Följsamma Plågan 7:20
4. Minnets Melankoli 8:03
5. Leendet Av Hans Verk 8:20
6. Den Dödes Stigar 8:34
7. Till Priset Av Vårt Liv 10:41
8. Eftermäle 2:58

Band members
Pär Stille – vocals, guitar
Andreas Johansson – bass
Johan Marklund – drums

Album Review – Ophe / Litteras Ad Tristia Maestrum Solitude (2018)

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An avantgarde and experimental album of Black Metal infused with dark atmospheres and nuances, meticulously put together by a one-man army hailing from France.

Litteras Ad Tristia Maestrum Solitude, or “letter to the sad comfort of solitude” from Latin, is not only the brand new album by French Avantgarde Black Metal one-man army Ophe, but also a very avantgardish and experimental piece of Black Metal fixing without any doubt a new limit to the borders of a sound that is a personal mix of Extreme Metal, avantgarde music and dark atmospheres. Recorded and mixed by Edgard Chevallier at Lower Tones Place Studio, and featuring a glamorous artwork painted by the talented French artist Jeff Grimal, Litteras Ad Tristia Maestrum Solitude will bring an obscure joy to the hearts of fans of the music by bands such as Fleurety, Blut Aus Nord, Manes, Anorexia Nervosa and Aevangelist.

Formed in 2015 in Châtillon, a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, by multi-instrumentalist Bargnatt XIX, better known for being the voice and guitar for French Avantgarde project Område, Ophe will certainly crush your senses throughout the 36 minutes of distorted passages, wicked noises and eerie gnarls in Litteras Ad Tristia Maestrum Solitude, with the sonic extravaganza crafted by Bargnatt XIX being beautifully complemented by the saxophone schizophrenia delivered by guest musician Val Dorr (of Aevangelist). In other words, open your mind, let the music by Ophe penetrate deep inside your soul, and the way you view extreme music will never be the same again.

In the opening track, titled Somnum Sempiternum (which means “everlasting sleep” or ‘eternal sleep” from Latin), Bargnatt XIX begins firing Stygian riffs and blast beats together with his hellish gnarls in a vibrant and classy display of Atmospheric Black Metal, with the music getting darker, more fiendish and more demented as time goes by. Furthermore, the wicked saxophone sounds by Val Dorr add a touch of lunacy to the overall result, making the whole song even more delightful. Then we have Decem Vicibus (or “ten times” from Latin), a very obscure composition with the spoken words by Bargnatt XIX sounding smooth but perturbing at the same time, not evolving to any regular type of music you might be accustomed to. Well, that’s the beauty of Ambient Black Metal, as the creepiest sounds can become high-quality music just like that. And medieval, somber background noises set fire to an uncanny creation by Ophe named in XVIIII, with the sax by Val Dorr sounding even more disturbing than before, while Bargnatt XIX’s deep, enraged roars match perfectly with the hypnotizing heavy sounds emanating from all other instruments, in special the delicate and electrified guitar riffs and solos.

Missive Amphibologique D’Une Adynamie A La Solitude, a long and stylish song name that means “amphibological missive of an adynamy to loneliness” from French, is an 11-minute phantasmagoric aria that can easily be used as the soundtrack to your darkest nights, with its blast beats and ferocious growls bringing total chaos to our souls. And the song’s intense insanity goes on and on, with no sign of happiness or joy, courtesy of Bargnatt XIX and Val Dorr who generate a wall of strained, striking and grim sounds and tones in what can be considered a “controlled chaos”. Lastly, after such grandiose havoc it’s time to slow things down in Cadent, where Bargnatt XIX soothes our souls with his semi-acoustic lines embraced by an apocalyptic background to give it a beyond atmospheric vibe, closing the experimental journey by our skillful one-man army in a beautiful way.

In case you want to join the eccentric world of Bargnatt XIX and his Ophe, you can visit the project’s Facebook page for more details about such distinct endeavor, listen to Litteras Ad Tristia Maestrum Solitude on Spotify, and purchase the album from Ophe’s own BandCamp page, from My Kingdom Music’s Big Cartel page, from the Season of Mist webstore, and from the JPC webstore, as well as from your regular retailers iTunes, Amazon and Discogs. And if this enticing album is Bargnatt XIX’s personal letter to the sad comfort of solitude, I can’t wait to see who or what he’s going to write a letter to next.

Best moments of the album: Somnum Sempiternum and XVIIII.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2018 My Kingdom Music

Track listing
1. Somnum Sempiternum 8:38
2. Decem Vicibus 4:33
3. XVIIII 5:45
4. Missive Amphibologique D’Une Adynamie A La Solitude 10:40
5. Cadent 5:16

Band members
Bargnatt XIX – vocals, all instruments, programming

Guest musician
Val Dorr – saxophone