t is one thing for eyes to gaze upon the works of man, and in vanity admire that which is created, to become entranced by the frivolities before them, be it the conflagration of colors or the serenity in what was carved. However, in the same breath, to truly bewitch the mind, wherein eyes become drunk, and the silver bonds that tie the mind to this mortal coil loosen as we slowly submit ourselves into the womb of this ineffable wonder. In my opinion, this is where art becomes more than just a mere piece, but now it is a pathway for the consciousness to evolve.
Outlaw’s ‘Opus Mortis’ is a jewel fashioned from the ceremonial fires of Black Metal, giving birth to an energy that harkens back to such titans like Dissection and Watain, but at the same time letting their own energy bleed into this cosmic wound heralding an album that feels organic in its transmission.
Tracks such as ‘A Million Midnights’ and ‘Ruins of Existence’ are a testament wherein the instrumental construct invokes an occult-like cadence to cocoon the senses. For the manner of its invocation such as the haphazard tone of the strings coupled with the war-like tones of the percussion gives birth to a worship-like atmosphere, as though the soul is being cleansed and adorned for a ceremony to ascend in splendor. The production of the album compliments the rhythmic architecture, allowing a compact sound but animated in its delivery, as though the very energy ebbs and flows around you. The vocals on the other hand add tangible quality to the album as a whole, such as the track ‘Whose Who Breathe Fire’, for it is the very breath that gives life to the bones of the instrumental architecture, cloaking it in a blackened spell.
‘Opus Mortis’ becomes the entity that fuses with one’s aura, beckoning them to take the leap into the unknown, for the melodies churned forth strips away the cloth of languor which drapes the soul, awakening it through each step as it drowns in this atrament, for when it is submerged, only then, the scales of the eyes are shed.
