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Spanish experimental funeral doom band Of Darkness sets 25 August as a release date for its sophomore album, Missa Tridentia. The album will get out via Personal Records in CD format.
Of Darkness, while exuding the characteristic traits of the subgenre - sepulchral tones, glacial pace, suffocating atmosphere - looks beyond mere metal for the idiosyncratic deployment of other such music as ambient, industrial, and especially classical. Intensely atmospheric and deeper than the abyss, its sound is the perfect landscape for the members' extreme nihilistic beliefs. And although those members concurrently play in such distinguished bands as Teitanblood, Balmog, and Graveyard, among many others, in thought and deed, Of Darkness is entirely their entity.
Of Darkness was born in 2003 and released their first demo, Death, a few months after. In 2004, the entities behind the band started working on a new work, The Empty Eye, released in 2005. Perhaps most indicative of the band's unique take on funeral doom was the release of Tribute To Krzysztof Penderecki - Passio et Mors Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Secundum Lucam.
Fittingly for its cult nature, Of Darkness has never been a traditional band; it's just an on/off project that appears every once in a while, so many people thought and still think the band is on hold or even inactive - which, in a way, is true. During the infamous lockdown, the trio decided to prepare new material, composed, recorded, arranged, and mixed in only three days: as usual for Of Darkness, since its members never rehearse and rather improvise in the studio while recording. Nevertheless, what has emerged - the seven-song/43-minute Missa Tridentia - is a monumental album that sounds anything but improvised. Solemn and spacious, much like an ancient cathedral, Of Darkness' second album, slowly unfolds, each minute moving ominously but with portent, almost soothingly, as textures flicker with recognition but then fade away, and on and on and on again. The whole work is threaded together as one massive composition, and therein lies the genius of Of Darkness: taking far more cues from classical than funeral doom, one could view these separate movements as suites of a larger orchestral work, and indeed do they incorporate orchestration that arguably plays a great role than the usual metal-oriented instrumentation. At times, there's a diabolical disconnect - and successive dissonance - between both elements, as if they're each playing of their own accord; but then, like slowly undulating wisps of smoke, a certain sense of order arises, haunting and hypnotizing. It's incredibly avant-garde without being belaboured or overbearingly performative about it. It's also unlike most "funeral doom" records past and especially present. Of Darkness challenges even the bravest listeners with Missa Tridentia.
Now listen to the brand-new track, "Requiem Aeternam"... Link
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