Ritualistic Black Metal. An instant turn-on for some, an instant “eww, gross” from others. For me, it’s one of my favorite aspects of what Black Metal can be. Unfortunately, it had a bit of a rough go last year, with albums ranging from disappointing (Gevurah) to boring (Verberis) to borderline unlistenable (Dødsengel). Luckily, the temple of Thy Darkened Shade has opened its doors once again (after 8 years of nothing save for some splits) with the second part of the grand trilogy Liber Lvcifer. For the uninitiated, Thy Darkened Shade, hailing from Greece, started off as any other second-wave inspired band with their debut Eternvs Mos, Nex Ritvs. Quickly they folded an increasing technicality to their sound on Khem Sedjet, the first part of a new trilogy and an important step to developing the clean yet icy sound I associate with the band. I’m glad to say Mahapralaya, an album for which I held high hopes, is a worthy followup to its predecessor.
Right off the gate, Thy Darkened Shade leans heavily into the choral aspect of their work, with “Luciftias” sounding like the opening hymn to a Satanic mass. Clean chants resound throughout the album displaying more bombast immediately than before. This immediacy is also aided by a trimmed runtime—76 minutes down to Mahapralaya‘s 61—that 76 minutes really was way too long. Along with the symphonics which add an eschatological feel to Mahapralaya, vocalist The A (dumb dumb black metal name) utilizes many different vocal styles, coming off like the priest of a dark congregation. My only complaint is that there are parts of the album that feel bloated (“Sathanastasis” and “Qelippot Epiphany”, the longest songs that stay fairly mid-paced throughout) and it can detract from the listening experience as a whole. But there are so many musical highlights throughout: Hannes Grossmann‘s killer fills, multi-instrumentalist Semjaza‘s wanky but tasteful leads, and riff-forward adventures into the abyss (“Veneration for the Fireborn King”). As such, I very much enjoy this album, and can see it growing on me throughout the year. Hopefully we don’t have to wait 8 more years until the grand conclusion to the trilogy.
