Calling the Void

It is time for another trip to the pits of hell and back again. The fitting soundtrack is provided by two evil minds from Vienna/Austria, both of them also active in a bunch of other outfits. Whenever such wonderful music is produced in my area I will pay special notice, and In Crucem Agere are another proof that Austria while not being as widely known for its metal scene than other countries keeps producing top quality stuff over and over again. “Calling the Void” is their third full length and as you might have rightly guessed from its title this is not an album for sunny spring days.

I would describe this album as a swirling abyss of bleakness and chaos, one that draws the listener inwards thanks to its dense atmosphere, while still allowing the consumer to focus on the different elements of the music and the single tracks. The most notable element to me might be the guitars which are fuzzed-out, cheeky, aggressive, and alter back and forth between melodic, atmospheric, rhythmic, and some slower doomy sections. While the music can be quite dissonant the patterns here seem a bit more structured compared to similar outfits. All of this makes for an incredibly wonderful experience, letting the 37 minutes playing time flying by.

This is music that should be listened to with great focus and with a pair of great headphones. The mind-bending performances and experiential, meticulously detailed relentlessness are at its core, but what impressed me the most is the way In Crucem Agere have worked these technical details into one coherent piece of sinister art. Track number two “Fall of the Idols” for example starts with eerie sounds and weird rhythms before settling into an undulating, hammering groove that steadily, as the song progresses, contorts itself into ever more uncomfortable, uncompromising, and unorthodox shapes, while still maintaining this strange central thread of disordered yet melodic harmony. Following tracks build upon this with a blend of tangled technicality and mangled melody, drifting into more avant-garde like territories while never skipping some subtly catchy key sequences.

In Crucem Agere take influence from many places, twisting and contorting it all into the virulent maelstrom we got. The two lads show their love for chaos and dissonance, offering some blistering torrent of guitar work and vile breakdowns, with the vicious black metal basics continuously enhanced by suffocating doom. This album is erupting as a piece of pure carnage that burns radiantly and quickly, not overstaying its welcome but making a ferocious statement all the same. It exists to overwhelm and destroy and leave you awestruck in its wake.

“Calling the Void” is absolutely crawling with minor details that you’ll only uncover as you spend more time with it. You will appreciate the subtle complexities woven between the guitar and the drums, the textures in moments of ambiance, the way the instruments shriek and wail and the intense howling of the vocals. The production is fantastic, organic but cold at the same time. The sound is very dynamic but not too sterile, giving the guitars the room they need to throw all their various details at the listener. Released by Code666 this one is a must-have for fans of dark yet intelligent music.