Label: Paragon Records and GrimmDistribution via Satanath Records
Origin: Szigetvár, Hungary
Reverberating with frigid desperation and pinging with intricate musicianship, Aetherius Obscuritas bitterly remind us of winter’s tedious gloom with Mártír. The Hungarian veterans’ eighth full-length record, Mártír wields pinpoint percussion like shards of ice while chilling the unsuspecting listener to the bone with a blizzard of demonic growls. While stereotypes of cold and desolate landscapes are often reserved for Scandanavia, Aetherius Obscuritas bide their time on the glacial shores of Lake Balaton, Hungary.
Mártír toes the line in the drift between traditional raw black metal and experimental atmospheric blackened metal, doing both exceptionally. While opening moments of “Ilyen a vér (Blood Is Like This)” crack the glossy surface with cursed shrieks and breakneck instrumental velocities, the fractures recede briefly to creep ahead melodically. These jagged changes in pace are common throughout the record, and relapses into speed are often marked with sections sans strings, allowing Zson’s exquisite percussion style to shine as he bruises often under-valued areas of his kit. “Lidércpalota (Incubus Palace)” showcases this battering well. A multitude of switches in tempo capture the bewilderment of a lost wanderer as nightfall sets in, with every short-lived injection of percussive style embodying the foreboding noises emitting from the dark unknown.
Middle tracks “Marthyr” and “A vén végvivő (The Old End-Bearer)” are dominated by searing black metal melodies, yet keep the listener on frost-bitten toes. Ominous off-key stringed demons slowly surround their prey, paralyzing the listener with fear until the rapid attack resumes with merciless force. Lead vocalist Arkhorrl unchains corpse-like groans behind the veil of blistering riffs, demonstrating his ability to both enchant and eradicate in the same breath. Acoustic notes trickle in for the first time on fourth track “Az Igaz (What ‘True’ Is)” as an atmospheric respite. Reminiscing on Dissection‘s The Somberlain, these notes offer a sense of mysticism and spirituality before distortion emerges from the shadows to reproduce the initial tune. This track features a wide range of vocal stylings as well as a stand-alone section that hints at the direction of the remainder of the album: 90’s melodic black metal.
The Frozen Lake of Eternity https://grimmdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/058gd-aetherius-obscuritas-m-rt-r-2020
Standout track, “The Frozen Lake of Eternity,” captures the essence of a frost-bitten black metal kingdom. Featuring guest growler Kaiaphas (ex-Ancient, Thokkian Vortex) and spewing addictive chunky riffs laden with lo-fi distortion, this track is the culmination of instrumental precision and wintry hatred. A break in the whiteout offers symphonic relief in the style of Emperor‘s “The Majesty of the Night Sky,” under the cover of a penetrating guitar solo, ringing with Valhalla’s calling. Not two tracks later, “Beyound the Walls” plays like Dissection‘s “Into Infinite Obscurity”: two minutes of acoustically-picked bliss before eighth offering “A harag lángja (The Flame of Wrath)” shreds through the serenity.
Final tracks, “Destiny: Unknown” and “Pulzár (Pulsar)” embody the mysticism that has been an integral part of the black metal culture since its impure conception. While largely a result of anti-religious and misanthropic emotions, black metal is also immeasurably dependent on the spiritualism of its followers and their connection with the natural (or supernatural) world. While the majority of Mártír conjures images of a wandering soul on a frozen lake deep in the forests of Hungary, these final two tracks introduce a metaphysical landscape. “Pulzár (Pulsar)” is two minutes of unsettled pulsations soothed by an eerie organ. The poor traveler falls through the ice of the frozen lake of eternity, only to encounter something even more malevolent beneath…
Mártír is a worthy incubus for Aetherius Obscuritas, both in style and delivery. The attention to percussive variation is impressive, Arkhorrl’s choked shrieks are ungodly, and the biting black metal riffs ricochet across the record like bullets of ice. These Hungarians have conjured an abominable rock-filled snowball that will knock you out cold.
FFO: Dissection, Thorns, Emperor, Watain, Ragnarok