For the longest time, one of the worst habits that I’ve had in sifting through the many layers of the underground is seeing any given cover art and immediately having expectations, suspicions, and everything else of the sort. Whenever I see art from the great Lewandowski, my brain instantly gravitates towards music that’s larger than life and unbelievably heavy with the artwork constantly being paired alongside several doom acts. Yet, as we see with the newest effort from Non Est Deus, that couldn’t be any further from a constant with what I experienced today being more than I was expecting and far more than I could ask for out of a work of black metal for all that it brings to the table and all that it achieves.

While the name of Non Est Deus is a relatively new one to my ears despite seeing the name here and there over the years, the newer name of Kanonenfieber is a much more widely known name for many of us since its debut last year, but it is with the third effort from Non Est Deus that the mastermind behind both acts truly needs to have his name cemented as one of the need-to-know names in the entire underground. Without exception, it’s every inch of “Impious” that shows us the sort of godly, intoxicating black metal that many of us always needs more of injected into our veins. It’s not hard to figure out, without having heard so much as a note of the record, that “Impious” is a deeply blasphemous work that not only spits in the very face of religion but actively seeks its destruction. That’s far from a novel idea in the realms of black metal, but bring it together with a stupendous understanding of how to actually make it work in a cohesive manner while delivering a performance that’s as vicious as it is packed with one black metal anthem after another and it’s the very whole of “Impious” that immediately transforms into a compelling creation unlike much that has come before it. This is the vision that throngs of acts hope to create in some form or another but it’s clear after even just one listen of all that Non Est Deus brings to the table for its third release that this act is far from than anything that could be considered typical, run-of-the-mill, or even straightforward in its approach simply because of how invigorating it is right out of the gate.

It’s a true shame that it’s been this long before I actually got myself together and listened to what this band has to offer, and I cannot help but feel that even though this surely has to be the most fascinating work from the band yet, this is still just a shred of what can be brought forward by a name that is cannot be denied in any form as we move forward. I could sit here and talk for hours about how astoundingly made “Impious” is right from the beginning all the way to its bitter end, but it’s only now that I can implore you to not make the same mistake that I did: listen to Non Est Deus. Without question, it is a band that won’t leave you easily with it all but destined to become a name that not only should be highly revered, but one that could move mountains in the world of underground should it stay the course.

LISTEN to “Impious” on Bandcamp here.