Sanctvs, a new signee on the roster of the French Canadian Sépulchral Productions offer us their first full length release with “Mors Aeterna”. It seems to be a one man band as Mortheos is responsible for abusing all the instruments.
Opener “Sanctvs Dominvs”, complete with monumental cathedral sized organ and unsettling “Avé Satani” like vocals, immediately sets the mood, before “Roi omnipotent, Sainteté maléfique” reveals itself. A vortex of heavy rapid blast beat drumming, sizzling guitars, desolate screaming and animalistic growls … and … keyboard violence I haven’t heard since the second Elend album totally engulf you, leaving you no air to breathe. The sound is so complete, so wall to wall, that it evokes the insanity of the dark Middle Ages. And it goes on like this: “Dans la pleine obscurité l’on Te devine”, the colossal “Descends sur l’Homme tel une épée flamboyante” and the over 10 minutes long procession “Et scinde les chaines qui le lient à Yahweh” speak of the end of times where insanity and total chaos reigns and of hatred against God.
Kudos to the engineer and producer who had to channel all this musical mayhem through the correct tracks. “Mors Aeterna” is bursting with energy, heavy as can be, but luckily transient and spatial enough in sound to give you the full spectrum of this keyboard laden ambient Black Metal.
I’d say that Sanctvs managed to nail it on “Mors Aeterna”, creating an overwhelming thick genre of medieval sympho Black Metal with all the trimmings, the topic of religion and in a huge cinematic sound.
Fans of Aosoth, Deathspell Omega, Svartidauði, Gevurah and other musical extremists who shun no experimentation need to check out this debut from Sanctvs.
Dominus vobiscum. (LCF)
