Hate Decade (Demo Compilation)

It's somewhat funny that this compilation of demos spanning four years of Profundis Tenebrarum's existence manages to be more musically coherent than full-length albums by most black metal bands out there. You can tell that even from their earliest moments back in 1997, Profundis Tenebrarum had their particular style of melodic black metal fully realized, without any of the waffling or inconsistency you hear from so many other black metal bands. This absolute confidence is what makes 'Hate Decade' such a joy to listen to where other compilation CDs often feel: despite being recorded at different times and under different conditions, each of the three demos on this CD are held tight together by the core of undeniable style and execution which makes Profundis Tenebrarum one of the best Spanish black metal bands out there.

Spanish black metal bands tend to be jack-of-all-trades entities, generally playing a more melodic variation of the Norwegian style with epic, folk, and thrash elements. Profundis Tenebrarum narrows the focus onto a more straightforward form of black metal with nocturnal atmospheres and some fantastic riffs. A hint of thrashiness is present in some of the more active and rhythmic riffs, but overall this is very closely related to 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'-era Mayhem or early Emperor. The slightly degraded and grainy production in this case does a great deal to generate atmosphere giving the already misty guitar tone an added rawness which intersects nicely with the 'Transilvanian Hunger'-style vocals. The songs are winding, narrative, and lushly melodic in the sense of a non-symphonic 'In The Nightside Eclipse', managing to conjure up some pretty vast and compelling soundscapes while still being aggressive and raw throughout.

Profundis Tenebrarum operates at a pretty consistent mid-fast thrash beat tempo, without a great deal of rhythmic variation within songs. The music is extremely riff-oriented and melodic in nature, and manages to avoid most of the overdone melodies that infest the black metal scene. The melodic riffs have a unique, watery tone to them which is a fair bit different from the standard, though I'd be hard-pressed to articulate exactly how it's different. The tracks are all similarly structured, generally just swapping riffs back and forth to generate new songs, but the riffs are so good that the band can get away with it without any fuss at all. The only real change in feel is with the final track, 'Dark & Eternal', the slow and epic black metal track to end all slow and epic black metal tracks, unfolding with a masterful sense of patience and purpose over nine minutes without ever getting boring. It's a gem on an already great CD.

While the particular style that Profundis Tenebrarum plays isn't particularly unique, it's so well executed that it deserves attention from just about any black metal fan out there who can stomach some slightly raw production. For those of you who are looking for something like symphonic black metal without the whole symphonic business, this should be at the top of your list for future buys. This gets regular spins from me and I think it probably will for you too.