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MONTE PENUMBRA “Austere Dawning”
MONTE PENUMBRA “Austere Dawning”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Choosing three words to describe MONTE PENUMBRA: dark, twisted and DENSE. If you like the warped and suffocating black metal of old DEATHSPELL OMEGA and BLUT AUS NORD, this is a band for you. It is an all-swallowing cloud of black metal oppression with a lot of thought behind it.
“Ab Gott” lets you know where things stand right away, beginning with disturbing sonic tones and then exploding into swirling black metal horror like a swarm of maddened bees. This is just the introduction to the journey ahead. MONTE PENUMBRA is mostly the work of one of those obscure black metal creators who do most everything themselves. In this case, the shadowy figure is WuR. The drumming is done by Bjarni Einarsson and he keeps up a constant barrage. “Void of Quietude” continues with dissonance that mutates into a grinding blast; the last third of the song is a truly ominous collage of creepy sounds. These sound collages are a big part of what makes MONTE PENUMBRA successful and they are very well done.
The rest of the album keeps things at a constant level of disquietude. These guys lean towards the avant-garde side of black metal, but the METAL is always paramount and there are great riffs in every song. This is not an album where you are going to find any relief from all-consuming sonic and spiritual darkness. One of the real black metal surprises and highly recommended.
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