The Bitter End of Old

The Portuguese black metal scene is probably not that well-known, but Corpus Christii are undoubtedly among the more prominent names, having spread the musical plague in the form of a powerful and terrorizing sound for nearly 25 years. Driven by second wave black metal aesthetics, the musicians deliver frenzied vocals emotionally charged with various shades of malevolence and despair in each album, threatening every listener without a drop of pity with a fist of slashing guitars, savage drums and a fury incapable of being tamed in any way. Sticking to the old school sound from that moment until now, the duo led from the very beginning by Nocturnus Horrendus, still stick to the principles of composing and writing pure and unfiltered black metal, leaning on pure ideas and inspiration, without any attempt at any modern techniques or sound. That being said influences of orthodox and ritualistic styles have found their way into the mix. “The Bitter End of Old” is their ninth full length – and a massive statement.

A laid-back intro with an acoustic ambient vibe introduces us to the album, completely contrasting with the following track, "The Predominance", which could only be described as unbridled chaos. A whirlwind of primal emotion from Nocturnus Horrendus's shifting vocals combined with fast tremolo and rhythmic drums deliver an interesting black metal cut, intertwined with both the traditional sound I mentioned above and more diverse elements and subtly dissonant key melodies presented with a huge amount of artistry. While sticking true to their roots bands like e.g. Nightbringer or Dodsengel have left their mark in the scene and also on this band, which is quite freshly served alongside the tradition of Corpus Christii .

The third track, "Unearthly Forgotten Memory", grabs you immediately with its metaphysical conceit and the crazy tremolo that cuts like a razor throughout, and there's definitely no shortage of dynamics here. Overall, this is a song which includes everything making this music so exciting. It's no different on one of my personal favorites from the album, "To the End, to the Void", another absolute banger. In this one the vocals are extremely fierce, burning and convey the primalness, which we all need in a record like this, and again they are presented in a way that is unique to the artists - at least two different types of vocal performances can be distinguished in a song, and they can switch to each other in a split second if it makes sense. Beside the lead guitars and the vocals it is also mandatory to mention the great drums that stand out in the foreground throughout, the Scandinavian nuances and last but not least, the nice fast-paced riffs and beautiful lyrics.

The album is closed by, "For I am All," the penultimate song on the record. The cutting atmospheric guitars, oozing coldness, along with the evocative vocals delivered through several different techniques, are simply addictive to listen to and I couldn't help but revisit the track at least a few times in a row. That being said this one of the albums which benefit massively from being consumed in one go. Each of the tracks follows the previous one, adding its own unique elements that are very interesting to follow. Whether it's an interestingly swirling riff, a floating time interval, an experiment with the vocals or unique use of the drums and their interesting timbres and overall, their distinctive and independent composition. There is a lot going on, and several listens will help detecting new layers.

"The Bitter End of Old" is a blasphemous opus, oozing dissonance and chaos, in which we can enjoy more than thirty minutes of Corpus Christii's traditional erupting style of black metal, complemented by new, more experimental elements that add new nuances to the overall dark picture portrayed by the musicians. Darkness, primal and sincere emotion presented through the prism of black metal - that's what you can expect from this album, no less. The lyrics are surprisingly interesting as they do not cover any meaningless satanical stuff, but seem to have a deeper meaning. Thanks to a transparent and very powerful production nothing is lost in the mix, rounding off one of the best genre albums I have heard in quite a while.