With Halloween having past, the more mysterious months on the calendar seemingly have faded. Yet, with the onset of the climate warming, the colder days just now are getting here at least in limited form. It’s still more than passable to take on music that makes you think of the more morose and chilling elements of our fragile existence.
“Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow,” the second record from black metal duo Pestilent Hex, arrives pretty late in the year, a place where records often go unnoticed, which is damn-near criminal. We still get a slew of good stuff as the year begins to close, including this seven-track, 46-minute destroyer. The band—vocalist M. Malignant (Corpsessed, Profetus) and multi-instrumentalist L. Oathe (Convocation, Desolate Shrine)—intertwines their darkness into myths and superstitions, harrowing dreams, and thick levels of mystery translated through a vicious assault of black metal that adds wickedness into the mix.
“Nocturne” is a brief intro track, morbid, cold, and classical, flowing into “Sciomancy and Sortilege” that begins enraged. Guitars scorch as savagery reigns, orchestral flourishes blossoming as speed and carnage emerge, spaciousness spreading among the stars. Keys glimmer as devastation dominates, the playing stirring as a rousing finish boils blood. “Through Mirrors Beyond” rips open, shrieks raining down like razorblades, melodic gusts taking things to the next level, washing into viciousness. The playing continues to stir, making the sky spin, swirling into tornadic winds. “Of Hexcraft and Laws Three-fold” detonates and starts with screams rampaging, the humidity thickening as the bruising sets in. Guitars spiral as the temperatures skyrocket, the playing engulfing as the melodies explode, guitars churning as everything races to a mangling end.
“A Spectral Voyage” burns and dizzies, shrieks gutting as the stormy pace becomes a bigger factor, the pace picking up noticeably. Howls curdle as melodic slashes leave marks across your back, driving through bizarre cork screws, morbid howls dissolving with a slashing gust. “Threnody of the Moon Ascendant” tingles, dark howls exploding, the chaos feeling frosty and unwelcoming, blistering roars sending chills down your spine. The growls engorge as the playing cascades, whipping into a frenzy with an intense synth wall taking you out. Closer “Sanguine Gnosis” slowly melts as your brain swells, growls boiling in dark and dreary waters, the band setting into scorched earth. Organs drive through the atmosphere, a pastoral feel chilling flesh, the lava rushing to the surface and breaking through rock. The playing wrenches as the keys drizzle, blurring into endless energy.
Strange waves are in the air on “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow,” Pestilent Hex’s dramatic second offering that injects a sense of darkness and adventure into the air. It does align well with these darker days, colder nights, when enrapturing spirits are at our doorsteps. This is a brutal way to take that trip, but it’s also something that will make your mind continue to create morbid visions as the record plays out.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/PestilentHex
To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://debemurmorti.aisamerch.com/band/pestilent-hex
Or here (UK): https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/564-pestilent-hex
For more on the label, go here: https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/
Meat Mead Metal 