The darkness can be an incredibly terrifying force, and it’s something that has haunted people for generations as the worries of demonic creatures lurking mounts. But it can be a beautiful, calming presence, a place where one can rest, contemplate the future, or just enjoy lightless wonder.

 Daniele Vergine, the sole force behind black metal spirit Occulta Veritas, pays homage to the absence of light on “Irreducible Fear of the Sublime,” a 6-track, 32-minute excursion into the deep. This is a brutal, yet mind-altering adventure that can overtake you and push you to contemplate a force perhaps not further considered before. The playing is exhilarating and forceful, pushing you to the limit of your personal comfort and perhaps digging into some long-held fears that haven’t reared their head in some time.

“The Mirror Stage” opens warmly, luring you into a false sense of security before guts are ripped from body cavities, shrieks raining down amid rubbery, weird, prog-fueled madness. “The Sacred Horizons of Totality” is fluid, screams rampaging, the leads sprawling and increasing the already thick humidity. Animalistic playing and coarse growls head into blinding fury, and that’s overtaken by a horrifying, yet trippy onslaught that eats into your psyche before fading. “Metonimia” unfurls blistering guitars, smearing howls, and an attack that never feels like it relents. Progressive waters bubble over as the playing haunts, peppering with scathing blows before bleeding away.

“S(A)” is a strange change of pace, a cosmically freezing piece that hovers overhead like an alien craft, wordless calls feeling like they’re transmitting a message from beyond. The playing is spellbinding and detached from this plane, draining into the stars. “Bound to Incompleteness” basks in echoing shrieks, and a driving, trudging pace, the playing utterly ambushing. A wild spirit runs through this track, feeling bizarre and disorienting, disappearing and mixing into the night sky. The closing title track opens with sharp screams, tangling leads, and a bloody, yet haunting adventure into the unknown. The playing bleeds and causes the room to spin, the pace chugs, the guitars pick up the intensity, and wordless calls falls like ice daggers to the earth.

Basking in the darkness and its rich beauty is a theme that’s all over “Irreducible Fear of the Sublime,” and while it’s properly crushing, Occulta Veritas weave in the proper adulation and awe for a force that cannot be toppled. The playing here is heavy and the proper amount of beastly, an album that is perfectly portioned and designed to enhance the sense of mystery. It’s a record that will keep you up at night so you can show admiration for a serene blackness that can trigger panic as easily as calm.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/OccultaVeritas/

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://metalodyssey.8merch.us/

Or here (Europe): https://metalodyssey.8merch.com/

For more on the label, go here: https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/