Brazil: what more can be said about Brazil? It is an open grave that has spewed forth a plague since the ’80s, birthing so many damned hordes, several of which stand as pillars of international Black Metal.
And, like any historic, pestilent tomb, it constantly exudes rot; today, we immerse ourselves in the sonic plague of Fantôme Oublié, a horde shrouded in profound darkness and mystery. We know only that Fantôme is responsible for all the damned instrumental creation and the cursed shrieks. For years, they have worked with the infamous label Hammer of Damnation, which has released some of their earlier works and now adds this album to the list of torments.
The title, ‘Secrets Ténébreux Révélés Par Les Ossements’, immediately evokes a compressed darkness and the expansive imagery of Les Légions Noires. The record opens with an introduction (brief as a death rattle) that exhumes ‘Un Cercueil Froid Attend’ from some misty wasteland. Here, Fantôme howls and unleashes a torrent of darkness: Black Metal in the vein of Mütiilation, yet possessing that profound compositional style Celestia bequeathed to us from the death of the past.
The guitars craft a somber, hypnotic atmosphere, framing a reverberating wall of sound that oppresses the senses. The tempo shifts between mid-paced marches and sudden accelerations, though the mid-tempo sections hit the mark best, aligning perfectly with the weight of the perpetually tremolo-picked guitars and the vocals, a mix of agonized shrieks and operatic tones that will prove a morbid delight to ears trained on the black noise of the Nidrosian scene.
Next, ‘Métal Noir Des Mourants’ assaults with greater impetus and force, accelerating the pace while strangling the last hopes of light with piercing riffs that, alongside the vocals, serve as the main protagonists of this torture amidst the shadows. Halfway through the journey, a brief pause offers a moment of respite, though it proves to be nothing more than a fleeting sensation as the scourging of the flesh resumes; the track’s title, a journey into the abyss with no return, is seared into the experience. Though slightly shorter than the previous song, it heralds the coronation of Death with solemn trumpets.
A personal favorite from the album, ‘Couronnement De La Majesté De La Mort’ flies the flag of introspective Black Metal, driven by a bestial march and guitars howling out dark, nostalgically tinged melodies. If I were to draw a comparison to existing music, the essence of Drowning the Light is palpable here; the vocals chew through the lyrics, interweaving high-pitched shrieks with clean singing, both excellent, fitting organically and fluidly into the instrumentation, much like thick fog rolling across the path of an ancient cemetery. We reach the midpoint of this funereal feast as ‘Atavisme Funéraire’ welcomes us, draped in a shroud of somber mysteries. Tenaciously holding to the album’s formula, the guitars drill into the atmospheric ether of this mid-paced journey, while the vocals grow more volatile and deep, as if the mission were to shatter the stillness of the dead within this atavistic lament. By this point, the blend of hypnotic, orthodox elements and the raw grit of ’90s Black Metal has become strikingly evident, etched upon the marble covering the ancient headstones.
There is a link between the previous track and ‘Gardiens Des Cimetières’, a thread that ties everything together through the drumming and hypnotic, high-pitched riffs. These elements create an oppressive yet powerful atmosphere that transcends mere blasphemy. Furthermore, as I mentioned at the start, the imagery (logo, photos, artwork borders, and so on) is fully dedicated to the LLN aesthetic, with the added detail that all song titles are in French, quite an interesting choice for a one-man band from Brazil. A tribute to the dead legions? Absolutely; the hypnotic effect intensifies with every second held in the grip of the rhythm’s oppressive monotony.
‘Communion De Vers Et Pourriture’ bares its fangs at the threshold of night with a sinister guitar melody that evokes forgotten eras when cruelty reigned supreme; the tempo turns oppressively slow, dead, before accelerating again to emphasize vocals spat out with ancient hatred.
As we near the end, ‘Os, Cendres Et La Lune’ stands out as another fine track. The formula remains intact, yet the repetitive, monotonous phrasing lends it a special touch, creating a dark aura with syncopated drum rhythms alternating with the ever-present mid-tempo beats and vocal variations that seem to drown in a sea of agonizing despair. Finally, bearing the weight of closing this work (which I enjoyed for everything it evokes) comes another track with a hauntingly evocative title: ‘Maladies, Amertume Et Ténébres’. It casts notes into the air, linking them with high-pitched guitar riffs; following a mid-song break, the vocals take center stage with that sinister, invocatory timbre, a lineage stretching from ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’ through ‘Mare’ to the throat of Fantôme, consecrating all this black art to the night.
And just as it began with a death rattle, so too does life slip away at the end!
