MONTE PENUMBRA – Austere Dawning

vote
7.0

• Bands:
  MOUNT PENUMBRA
• Duration: 00:40:53
• Available from: 12/13/2024
• Label:

• Norma Evangelium Diaboli

With “Austere Dawning”, Monte Penumbra, a Portuguese band active since 2012, return to the market with a third album that offers black metal steeped in darkness and atmosphere, in a path that had perhaps seen them more intent on daring in past works. This third album in fact marks a shift, compared to the past, towards a more canonical and usual black metal, also reminding us of other black works released in recent years (we are along the lines of “Daemon” by Mayhem, to give a stylistic idea).
Let's say that there is a certain balance between the classical canon and the idea of ​​what the genre has become today, in its main form and not intent on following some subgenre of the subgenre: in short, Monte Penumbra play black metal, period, without other names , albeit with a 'modern' meaning.
The album can certainly be listened to thanks to some very effective episodes, such as the opener “Ab.gott”, beautifully tense with sharp riffs and dissonances, or “Murrain Unveiled”, with an intro of bells that betrays the Mediterranean origin and a cadenced, capable of also showing a more atmospheric side of the band: this song works thanks to a fairly tense and emotional pace, with truly beautiful instrumental interweavings.
In short, this “Austere Dawning” is a record that knows how to please: perhaps it doesn't have those masterpiece sparks and it reminds us a few too many times of other works released in the last decade (but not one in particular – in short, they don't plagiarize anyone, but not even surprising); However, it gives us forty minutes of disturbing and well-assembled sounds, with some really interesting guitar runs at times (listen to “Stamen Of Barrenness”) by the mastermind W.Ur, voice, bass, guitar, supported by a carpet of guitars ambienceedited by Mons Vntc, which certainly helps a lot in the final result, together with the excellent drums of Bjarni Einarsson of Sinmara – and therefore a certain cold 'Icelandic'ness in some points of the album is not surprising, well contrasted with the warmth we were talking about above.
In short, not an album to be had at all costs, but a work that can be listened to with great pleasure: not immediate, in fact it must be listened to several times to grasp its depths, but we are certain that it will please lovers of the genre.