Anyone who does even a little bit of digging into the greater black metal scene that’s at play will know that there’s a special dark corner of the style that’s unlike anything else that no other brew of black metal can replicate. More often than not it’s atmospheric black metal acts that make up that section, but every now and then it changes, but tonight I witnessed yet another gorgeous addition to that exclusive, sinister club. With their first full-length album, the entity of Ars Magna Umbrae does nothing but impress.
I will never really understand how musicians can come together to create pieces like this that seem transcendent in their nature will managing to encompass the cosmos itself in usually under eleven tracks, but somehow we still get bands that are able to do just that as we see time after time over the years. It’s also interesting for me to see how the new year will kick off for metal, and with the likes of Ars Magna Umbrae helping it we’re off to a magnificent start! On just their first round at with a full-length, Ars Magna Umbrae doesn’t disappoint for a second as “Lunar Ascension” is just the sort of otherworldly, dark atmospheric black metal that many people clamor for. There’s not a single moment in these nine tracks that guide us through the darkness that isn’t wreathed in abyssal terror or ethereal wonder to the point where the onslaught of metal that Ars Magna Umbrae delivers expertly is all but contagious, for “Lunar Ascension” becomes a record that you don’t want to end any time soon. It’s not often by any means that we get an album like this where all of it feels so expansive while not meandering to become something greater than what it already is, and Ars Magna Umbrae truly exceeds at that point to make “Lunar Ascension” sound but, most importantly, feel like a grandiose first step into the scene that’s all but crucial in their future as an act that can very easily create ripples amongst the fanbase.
I say we don’t get albums like this very often because we simply don’t. This is a record that’s already garnered a small cult following in a scene where it can be difficult to get noticed, it’s got loads of talent at a stage that’s all but imperative for future impressions, and craftsmanship that throngs of other acts can’t even come close to. In just about every form, “Lunar Ascension” is a record that’s devastating but enticing, and Ars Magna Umbrae explores its depths with confidence and finesse that we couldn’t have asked in any better form.
“Lunar Ascension” releases on January 25th via I, Voidhanger Records!
LISTEN to “Lunar Ascension on Bandcamp here.
LIKE Ars Magna Umbrae on Facebook here.
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