The Osteomantic Incantation

The second LP from the Colombian outfit known as Oldmoon takes us right back to pre ‘His Majesty at the Swamp’ era Varathron. ‘The Osteamantic Incantation’ is a lo-fi journey through arcane Southern European style black metal, with a good measure of death metal influence spread throughout.

The production is demo quality, which is no detriment as far as the guitars are concerned. Highly melodic solos and clean interludes of delicate melodies are contrasted with a dirty, half-formed tone that makes up the bulk of the actual riffs performed here. Primitive old school death metal is thrown against Hellenic traditions that seek to meld early extreme metal with the refined melodic elements of heavy metal. Vocals stick to a low death growl with plenty of reverb. This allows them plenty of presence, but also ends up filling out the mix in the absence of a strong bass tone besides an ever-present throb. The drums offer a sloppy but consistent rhythmic framework to hang the whole thing on. Being somewhat limited on both a technical and a production level relegates their significance on this release to sophisticated metronome.

But all these shortcomings of production, levels, mixing, and ability are bypassed thanks to the central commanding narrative that the guitars play. One can easily get over the haze of the lo-fi mix as the music itself jumps out of these limitations and allows us to hear the scope of the compositions beneath. Ultra-primitive death metal riffs are directly contrasted with epic sweeping leads that transcend this claustrophobic setting and grant the music size and breadth. Regular clean guitar interludes breakup the static and further offset the abrasion of this album’s more visceral qualities.

The overall impact is one of a dreamlike atmosphere that seems to emanate from beyond another veil of reality. Oldmoon, despite the obvious limitations in recording techniques, seem fully aware of how to manipulate these limitations to reach for something more than the sum of its parts. Even at its dirtiest, ‘The Osteomantic Incantation’ has an immersive, spiritual quality to it that calls back to early Hellenic black metal. This is both a result of the compositional techniques deployed across the album, but also clever mastery of technical limitations that in the right hands become an advantage.

Originally published at Hate Meditations