We return once again to the Brazilian catacombs to dissect the opus ‘Devorado Pela Penumbra da Noite’ by Fallen Spell, released a couple of months ago by the fledgling label Moon Rites Productions, which has gained a reputation in the underground for issuing raw, occult-themed Black Metal.
The work curses us from the outset with an intro/instrumental titled ‘Fragmentos’, a collection of keyboard passages and sounds that drag the listener into untamed, profoundly dark realms, accompanied by the arcane sound of rain flowing through subterranean rivulets. The track ‘The Fog’ stands like a mausoleum forgotten by time; guitars tear through the veil of bygone eras, swirling into a vortex of raw Black Metal, while keyboards map out the paths destined to be profaned. The vocals, perfectly pitched, evoke agonizing shrieks infused with a sense of hatred, riding atop riffs heavy with pride. Epic scope defines the piece: across eight minutes, the music shifts through various rhythms and recurring, hypnotic cadences, ultimately finding a beautiful end in the embrace of keyboards and ‘black noise’. It brought to mind the atmosphere of the classic anthem ‘Det som en gang var’, a ferocious display of fangs from something dwelling in the serpentine depths.
Next, ‘Amanheceu Mergulhado em Hipnótica Nostalgia’ evokes, through its very title, those states of being we sometimes encounter in this wretched existence, drawing our senses toward the lethargy of darkness. Once again, the guitars rise in a crescendo, laid bare to reveal the track’s dark soul; they move at a mid-tempo pace, swaying within rhythmic cycles that consume themselves like a bonfire. The vocals now take center stage, their tone flickering with echoes of early Nargaroth. Midway through, a duel between the riffs becomes strikingly apparent, introducing compelling dissonances before returning to a rhythmic bridge that takes on an anthemic quality, adorned with spectral keyboard textures, varied vocal effects, and prominent bass accents. Much like the preceding track, it ultimately fades away, consumed by the clutches of the keyboards. Next, ‘O Lago’ brings a sense of calm following the ‘storm’, a nearly 15-minute stretch where the intensity drops off. It’s a pleasant interlude to take in while admiring the album’s excellent cover art; as you notice new details in the artwork, the musical accompaniment adds a special touch.
Situated in the middle of the album’s tracklist, ‘A Dança dos Esquecidos’ follows the record’s unwavering formula: guitars strike the senses first, followed by a violent explosion of instrumentation, screams included. If you were to break the track down into its individual recording channels, it’s clear that many were used for the mix: drums, guitars, bass, vocals, keyboards, and effects, all of which remain easily perceptible, a testament to a well-executed final mix. While the track doesn’t stray from what came before, the screams take on a deeper quality, underscored by sharp, pronounced tremolo guitar riffs. As an aside, and without intending to make a direct comparison (though I’ve already shared a few thoughts on that), if we were to transport this track back to 1997, one could certainly draw parallels to Hecate Enthroned’s ‘The Slaughter of Innocence…’, particularly in the depth the keyboards lend to the relentless, high-speed, high-intensity music. In short: it’s one of my favorite tracks.
‘Devorado Pela Penumbra da Noite’ is the next track, the one that lends its name to this entire collection of darkness. What better way to breathe within the abyss than through a mid-tempo march that suddenly accelerates into a frantic pace? The vocals here carry a subtle distortion, dissolving amidst malevolent notes that shift in rhythm while maintaining consistent underlying patterns. This repetition becomes increasingly pronounced, anchoring the track in a long, unfolding journey. Spanning nearly nine minutes, the piece, as one might expect, features a moment of silence midway through, which then gives way to chords cradled by the chill of death. The oppressive momentum resumes, framed by a wall of guitar reverberation, before finally fading out into the distant memory of a dark passage, the sound itself degraded, as if playing from the worn grooves of an ancient vinyl record. Nearing the end, the track ‘Mau Presságio’ strikes with a somnolent instrumental, yet one that carries a premonition of the unforeseen. With a steady, mid-tempo rhythm and a firm stride, the track’s title is truly brought to life through its music; the absence of vocals allowed me to quickly internalize this ‘ill omen’, though, personally, I might have preferred the inclusion of voices.
Continuing in a familiar vein, ‘Se o Trauma Bater na Porta’ lingers for several minutes within a dark, trembling introduction, before eventually unleashing a torrent of hatred, wielded with the most potent weapon at the multi-instrumentalist’s disposal, woven into every sonic lament and blasphemy. Like an Ouroboros, the song circles back to its own beginning, biting its own tail and closing the cycle, as if a brief, violent storm had swept over ancient ruins, while a piano, in the final moments, adorns the path toward the gallows for everything that has come before. ‘Após o Acontecimento’ dissolves amidst that piano and keyboards buried deep within the nocturnal threshold; with every step, one feels the weight of oblivion and the weeping of humanity, lost in the limbo of the ages.
I cannot imagine a more fitting conclusion to this record; the introductions, the atmospheres, and, above all, those lugubrious keyboard melodies cast a pall of eternal mourning, ensnared by a nocturnal spell that descends into a sepulchral silence.
