Tenebris Templum

The Italian scene has produced some really dark and impressive music over the past few years. Long gone are the days where Italian metal has been associated with pure cheese. The latest proof for this are Ad Omega, a pretty newish black metal commando. It seems Ad Omega consist of only two persons at the moment, with Noktvrnal being responsible for most things and Vindur helping out on drums and also delivering some synth lines. I am not familiar with their two previous EPs, but their full length debut “Tenebris Templum” is an absolute beast and one of my personal highlights of 2021 so far. Consisting of seven tracks and a bit less than 40 minutes playing time it has the perfect size to be fully satisfied after spinning it, but still leaves you craving for more once it has ended.

The end result comes with a heavy focus on ferocious riffs, interesting although sometimes slightly unorthodox chord progressions and disturbing harmonies, all designed to grab you and don’t let go before the album has finished. The atmosphere created by the lead melodies is outstanding. The guitar playing is especially impressive here. Whether going for atmosphere, a certain emotion, blistering assault, or just plain strangeness, the guitars help shape the music’s feel and impact even more than you would normally expect for something of this nature. Some of the ghoulish themes have reminded me a bit of the creepy character of the Akhlys releases, as Ad Omega musically also fall into a similar, more eerie, atmospheric style that is less easy to compare to most standard black metal bands.

The main riffs have been forged with a lot of precision, combining rapid and fierce attacks and more laid-back and stoic chord progressions. The two lads are not afraid to go full dark with their straight forward black metal attack, but they also make sure to create a bleak and captivating atmosphere. The whole album feels like a horrifying night of tossing and turning, without a chance to escape. Ad Omega deliver a ferocious yet measured piece of darkness that captures the excellent qualities of the genre. Riffs combine organically, with the frantic drumming that pull you into its sinister soundscape and captures the sheer chaos of slightly dissonant black metal.

Meanwhile, the drums are generally content to alternate between relentless blasting, thrash beats or more conservative snare and cymbal patterns struck atop a wall of impenetrable double kicks. That being said Ad Omega do not shy away from slowing the tempo down whenever it makes sense. However, when Ad Omega decide to attack they do so relentlessly and show no mercy. Each of the tracks is pure immersion, and the music on display is of the blackest, bleakest and most depraved of quality, the audial essence of what blackened metal should be. It is abject terror, driven into your soul with every harsh tremolo, every blast beating onslaught and every insidious fear-building atmosphere and piercing lead melody.

The vocals are more or less what you would expect from that kind of music, delivered in snarly fashion. The record is rounded off by a nice production job. The wailing guitars sound clear and crisp, and the drums have a nice punch, although probably coming across just a tad synthetic – however, this somehow adds to the cold and distant nature of the music. While there is always something going on in the background and atmosphere is king there is a certain level of rawness left, giving the album enough grittiness to be of interest for any fan of crushing black metal. “Tenebris Templum” also comes with a nice cover artwork and should soon be available as digipak, so grab a copy if you can.