In Umbrarum Imperii Gloria (Serpens Caput Productions)

 This is the second and latest work of this Italian Black Metal horde (excluding their Promo 2005, which contained two tracks). Its first work “Marching Upon Forgotten Ashes”, released back in 2004, really blows my fucking head off with its original and savage sound, in fact, this album was, in my personal opinion, one of the best Black Metal album released that year. This time “In Umbrarum Imperii Gloria” continues the savagery and destruction created two years ago. Absentia Lunae plays an extreme and complex Black Metal, somewhat reminiscent to the latest works of Mayhem, but definitely more Blackish, the drumming, is extremely complex, reaching almost progressive structures, with abrupt brakes and velocity changes, the guitars plays sharpened obscure melodies full of arcane, weird feeling, while the vocals of Ildanach, shows a great performance as incredibly obscure and possessed as shown in their previous works. His mid to high tuned shrieks deliver one of the most extremes elements of the whole album. The bass work still provides a strong, marked and somewhat martial base, with a notable rhythmic performance. This work shows a more cruel sound, quite more inclined towards the “traditional” sounding Black Metal, with less clean and acoustic parts. We can still find some clean vocals here, but those seems to be replaced with agonic, desperate screams in several passages, do not misunderstand me, the band have maintained intact its originality, but it seems like they decided to explore a more extreme side of their creativity. “In Umbrarum Imperii Gloria” consists in eight brutal tracks of aggressive and obscure Black Metal, full of strange distressed atmospheres, unpredictable complexity and accurate structures. This time the production is much better than showed in “Marching Upon Forgotten Ashes” (where the production was a little thin sounding). At this work the sound is completely powerful and clear; we can appreciate the great technical level of this band and the potent sound of each instrument. This work is limited to 400 vinyl copies… so be hurry or you will regret this for the rest of your miserable life. (AP)