Invictus Productions has always had a keen eye for picking some of the most high quality and interesting propositions within modern Black Metal. Among those that stand out from the roster are the Austrian band Transilvania, a band that has steadily been toiling for over a decade at this point. Their raw debut ‘The Nights of Nights’ was in my heavy rotation back in 2018 and their first offering on Invictus (‘Of Sleep and Death’) also got my attention. Yet age has served the band well and they might have put out their finest release to date: ‘Magia Posthuma’.
If you’re coming in blind to Transilvania, they provide an interesting fusion. Given they are from Central Europe, there is a clear homage to the masters of that area – Tormentor and Torr to be specific. Yet they fuse this together with the melodic and Heavy Metal stylings of the Swedish scene such as Dissection and Watain for a potent mix. This is Black Metal that is impenetrably dark to the touch but embedded with some regal guitar work; adding a great sense of majesty and dynamism. These elements had always been part of their previous output, yet have been greatly refined. The mixing here has been expertly crafted to give the band a much fuller and bombastic sound.
The band have no qualms in shifting through their wide arsenal of influences to make some memorable tunes. The title track opener does a great job at setting the scene for the album, with its flurry of harmonized, almost dissonant riffs that aurally transport you to a gelid night, full moon in view and surrounded by Romanesque architecture. The Heavy Metal overtures are present in ‘Thrall’ and ‘Poenari by Night’, with some menacing arpeggio fragments that wouldn’t feel too out of place on a Negative Plane record. Then a track like ‘Tuberculosis Reigns’ flips the script by belting out a more conventional Black n Roll number, riddled with hooks. ‘The Faustian Bargain’ closes the album with a series of slow yet sultry guitar melodies that would make Jon Nodtveidt blush. You never feel a dull moment in the record as the songs constantly transition between slower and faster passages effortlessly.
In an increasingly crowded scene, it can be difficult to stand out. Transilvania are one of the few that do by not just trying to emulate their musical forefathers, but by writing deeply eerie and engaging Black Metal. Despite their musical differences, they spiritually remind me of Malokarpatan and their capacity to invoke the landscapes of Central Europe. A band to continue to look out for and who are not content to continue writing the same record over and over again.
