Comb through black metal for long enough, and you’ll come to the realization that it is a sound that reveres what has come before almost more than anything else. The old schools of the genre still have an iron grip upon what much of the style continues to dish out with results understandably varying from one creation to the next. There are, of course, those that are able to replicate and make the tried-and-true formula work yet again, but it’s those that take those lessons, adhere to the old ways, yet still manage to carve out a path for themselves that make for some of the most engaging and interesting acts that all of black metal has to offer. Within an extensive debut, Omegaeternum showcases that brilliantly.

To simply look at the pedigree of everyone involved in this new creation and you will quickly find out that this is not some fledgling act fumbling around in the dark, hoping to find something that sticks. Rather, these are well-worn veterans of the sound that have done great things in the underground in other acts, yet it is with all that they’ve brought forth in the first album from Omegaeternum, “1248”, that I’m sure many will argue they have crafted their best performances to date as a single unit. Taking more than a few pages from the lessons that the old school of black metal still implements to this day, Omegaeternum could have very easily just become another act that doesn’t bring much to the table. A single look upon the track list should immediately prove otherwise, however. Eight tracks over seventy minutes long with almost half of them going on well beyond ten minutes, “1248” is simply massive! This is black metal that takes its time while its dark flame whittles down your spirit until you are susceptible to the black magic that Omegaeternum weaves throughout the performance with the atmospheres, melodies, and intensity of it all rooting you in placed, unable to rip yourself until the ritual is past the point of no return.

Diabolical in nature and overflowing with masterful understanding of what has always made the genre great, Omegaeternum has made one hell of an entrance. The potential for underground greatness is always obvious throughout every given stretch of “1248”, and I cannot help but feel as though this is but a peek as to what this act is capable of. Fiery to the touch despite the cold mountains where from which it originates, Omegaeternum made damn sure that their’s is a name we won’t lightly forget.

LISTEN to “1248” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Omegaeternum on Facebook here.