Mexico boasts a scene brimming with great glories of underground Black Metal, both past and present. Several of these ancient hordes are still active, spewing blasphemies on and off stage with works that I enjoy and keep in my collection like war treasures. In this case I shall dedicate myself to unravelling what Ars Inferi brings us, a horde summoned in 2004 and carrying the bones of two full-length albums. To be honest I have only heard their debut, ‘I Am One with Night’, which I remember for its archaic sound very close to the old Marduk of ’95 with bestial screams. Now 19 years have passed since their debut and 15 years of silence since their last release, so I am intrigued to know what their new EP, ‘Spectrophilia’, has in store.
The first thing you notice when you click is the change in sound, composition and musical direction. This Ars Inferi is a Death Metal band with some darker elements. The title track of the EP features grooves, mid-tempo breaks and double bass drum rhythms; truly nothing like their old sound. The track ‘Frater Tenebris’ further solidifies this search for a radical change with all the elements of Death Metal: tuning changes, compositional styles as mentioned above and different vocals. Doing some research I learnt there are new members in the band, so it is easy to deduce that they are largely responsible for this radical change.
The track ‘Ens Seminis (Lust Never Dies)’, for example, has those pounding rhythms of the old Seance, giving you an idea of how they have shed their skin. I do not dislike the new sound and their search for pleasure in the darkness, the perversion and lust of the flesh, but this sound is not for me, especially after listening to the old stuff, which opens a vast chasm between the two Ars Inferi. This EP could easily be mistaken for a trial run to see what happens. I hope they return to the raw, dark and blasphemous Black Metal of the past.
The past leaves its mark and as the Black Metal anthem says: The Past Is Alive!
