Tenebrae in Perpetuum – L’Eterno Maligno Silenzio
L’Eterno Maligno Silenzio sees Italian underground black metal band Tenebrae in Perpetuum evolve from the harsh, cold sound of their previous releases. What they’ve added is an even stronger influence from early black metal classics which, combined with the band’s talent for composition, is what makes this album particularly enjoyable.
The two first tracks, ‘Percepire La Luce Attraverso Il Sepolcro’ and the title track exemplify the band’s approach to summoning the spirit of the old Black Metal gods, without ever sounding like an obvious rip-off. The band succeed in adding enough variety and finesse of their own to ensure that this 2009 album actually sounds like it could have been released 15-16 years ago.
Both songs end with a section sung with clean, sombre vocals. This makes reference to the likes of old Satyricon or Borknagar – but the vocal style has a distinctive Latin feel, rather than Norse, and I think this unexpected theme works very well.
One of the best tracks, ‘Dissoluzione In Preghiera’, sounds quite like Satyricon to begin with, briefly drops into a spikey Darkthrone-style melody – then in storms a stomping Taake-style riff! (arguably as good as or better than anything on Taake’s last album). The combination of styles works really well because, rather than create a simple collection of dissonant riffs, the band have clearly put maximum effort into ensuring the composition works as a whole. This quality is true of every track on the album.
There’s eight songs, totalling just over 38 minutes, and there’s no intros or instrumental/ambient tracks – it’s full-on atmospheric Black Metal all the way through. Of course, some tracks are stronger than others, but I’d say nearly every song has its memorable moments.
Even the artwork inside the CD booklet is reminiscent of old 90s Black Metal releases, down to the lyrics being presented in barely legible gothic script. All lyrics are written in the band’s native language, which I think usually works best, as it adds extra authenticity to the vocalist’s delivery.
In general, the sound is well produced and – as you’d expect on an album such as this – uses plenty of reverb. The vocals are predominantly malevolent, throaty growls that fit well with the musical style. The guitar sound focuses on the treble end, and is not over-distorted. The one problem with the sound is the rhythm section… The bass is little more than a deep rumble, and the drum production is a bit weak. Even on my headphones, the kick drums are difficult to distinguish – just a muffled thud. However, imperfect production didn’t spoil the classic albums of the 90s, and the same is true here: the quality and atmosphere of the music compensates for any slight flaws with the sound.
So, is there a need for an album that reveres the old traditions of Black Metal so closely? Before I heard this, I would have said “no”. But Tenebrae in Perpetuum have paid such great homage to the style, I’m tempted to question whether some of the old 90s bands progressed too quickly… Could they have explored their early, formative music further? Who can say, but I’m glad this band have decided to follow the old path where others left it, and have created an album in a style of music that I enjoy now as much as I did in the 90s. It’s interesting to consider, if L’Eterno Maligno Silenzio had been in released in 1994, would we now be looking back on it as one of the classics of those times?
I admit I was more than a little sceptical when I got a request to review this Italian band. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a band that sounded more like some American gospel singers than satanic Black Metal! Thankfully after literally one second of listening my somewhat ridiculous assumptions were raped and pillaged [...]
I only recently discovered Rahu, who purvey original and very replayable Finish Black Metal of the highest calibre. This is a demo from 2008 that has since been released as part of a best of featuring this and their other demo on one CD. Although there are only three tracks delivering a mere seventeen minutes [...]