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Band: In Articulo Mortis
Album title: Testament
Release Date: 19 April 2017
Label: Herbert West Productions
Tracklist:
01. In Articulo Mortis
02. Le Don Obscur
03. Succubus
04. La Rose Et Le Marbre
05. My Underwater Queen
06. Embrace The Reapers Wrath
07. Lunar State
In Articulo Mortis, a Latin expression meaning "at the moment of death", was a melodic black metal band from France that formed in 1992 at the height of the second generation of one of the most prolific and original genres of all time. The band released two demos, one was Sombre Mélancolie and then they split up. The full lenght called Testament should smash our minds in 1997, but that hasn't happened. In 2012 the album was released but was limited to only 300 copies on Amazon. For a band that had more downs then ups in the career, with reasons that only compete to them, In Articulo Mortis has shown a pliancy far enough. Now, since 19th April, In Articulo Mortis is offering once again but for free the album Testament.
The main goal is to offer for the old and new black metal worshipers, a revival of their songs. In their own words: “A lot of things happened since then, we are no longer part of the scene but we wanted to release this testimony of our early days in the scene but also pay a tribute to the French black metal scene of the 90s and all the people we met through these years.”
The album starts on a good 90s pitch breadth as cult bands headed by Maniac Butcher and Thy Serpent. Testament present you 8 tracks in 41 minutes. All along the album you will find heavy guitars and many melodic lines, including the powerful bass, fast drum beats where necessary, grim screams, clean singing and a keyboard that brings classical and orchestral touches. All that keeps the old-school black metal brilliantly in line with some other styles they added to the picture and it doesn't take the charm away.
The tracks “My Underwater Queen”, “La Rose Et Le Marbre” and “Succubus” were already featured on their 1995's demo Sombre Mélancolie and were re-arranged for this album. The other songs were written in the 90s and have never been released so far. Although the album is mostly black metal, I need to point out that "Le Don Obscur" and "Succubus" have kind of the melancholic part that sounds in some extent like gothic rock, guitar solos in here will best show my comment. "La Rose Et Le Marbre" is a transcendental track that shows maturity from the band, perfectly mixing melancholy allied to the raw and old-school black metal. "My Underwater Queen", "Embrace The Reapers Wrath" and "Lunar State" even vehemently strong in terms of origins follow the melancholic tone.
Listening for the first time to In Articulo Mortis and by previously knowing that they are out of the scene, left me dismayed. From the high artistical level of their work it’s sad that this band has not achived the same success as their fellow black metallers around the world and foremost from Norway. In spite of this, I was very happy to be able to hear a band from this gauge and review a mature and beautiful work in every way. My favorite tracks, "La Rose Et Le Marbre", "My Underwater Queen", "Embrace The Reapers Wrath" and "Lunar State", makes me wish that the band gave up on the idea to stay away from our black metal world.
Review written by: Felin Frost
Rating: 8/10
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