In Tha Umbra was formed in 1996 as a product of the Portuguese Metal scene. They released a couple of albums and 2 EPs before signing to Agonia Records for their 2005 album ‘Nigrium Nigrius Nigro’, and have just released their new epos.
With an impressively lengthy album title, it comes as no surprise that the concept behind the album is based on a book, in this case the classic ‘Paradise Lost’ by John Milton. Befitting a complex poetic art, In Tha Umbra has composed nine diverse tracks filled with plenty of atmosphere and melody. The music sounds more Greek, in the vein of Rotting Christ, rather than what you might call typically Portuguese. With their record label typifying their style as ‘Death/ Doom/ Black/ Prog Metal’ they cover the entire spectrum, but it mostly holds true for the music on ‘Thus Open thine Eerie Wings…’ (though Doom seems far-fetched). While the major influence is Black Metal with loads of atmospheric keyboards, there’s an abundance of acoustic intermezzos, progressive passages and melodic solos. In Tha Umbra may seem like a breed apart on the Agonia roster, but they surely can handle the overall quality of the Agonia releases. That makes it all the more unfortunate that the guitar sound is a bit flimsy. Still, it’s hard to balance such a full mixture of instruments, and I surely won’t dismiss the otherwise quality mix of the album. Fans of atmospheric and progressive Death/ Black Metal simply need to check this out!
