Psalm II - Infusco Ignis

It's October 2011. I'm walking down the street in Carytown, a small town in Richmond with a lot of things for the newly turned 17 year old teenager to do. I decide to stop in my local Plan 9 record store, of which is a locally well-known shop for extreme metal, as well as pretty much any type of music you want, in CD, vinyl, and cassette tape formats. I, of course, immediately walk to the "METAL" section of the store, which is fairly large and diverse. I'm looking through numerous shelves of albums by bands I've never even heard of, and happen to find a few albums by fairly unknown bands that look like they'd appeal to me, with this album, "Psalm II - Infusco Ingis" by Swedish black metal band Heresi, being one of them. After glancing at the cover art and the logo for a Mississippi minute, I confirmed this was a black metal album. My curiosity began to arouse my love for the genre, and I quickly went to the cashier with this album, as well as a few others, under my arm. This is a perfect example of a blind buy that turned into one of the greatest decisions I have ever made in regards to my music collection. So, with that brief history lesson of my encounter with one of the elite bands in the Swedish underground, let us get down to the music!

Heresi is, as aforementioned, a black metal band from the almighty Scandinavian nation of Sweden. A prolific country for legendary black metal bands such as Marduk and Dissection, Sweden produces some of the most blasphemous sounding BM in history. Sure, Norway may be the most well known country and pretty much home for this extreme subgenre of metal, but it was here in Sweden where the genre was officially born back in 1984 with Bathory's self-titled debut album. Since then, the genre has infinitely evolved, and continues to during the present era. Heresi is a perfect example of pure, uncensored, unadulterated, relentless, in-your-face black stinking metal with no regard for the human race.

The music on here is insane. I can't really compare it to any bands, because they're quite unique, but also because they're very familiar at the same time. I could probably go on listing a variety of different bands to compare Heresi to, as I am prone to doing for some reason, but I am not going to. The madman behind Heresi, Skamfer, is well known for his former work with the band Ondskapt, who I regret to say I haven't listened to yet. In fact, I just found out who Ondskapt were before starting this review, so I might wanna check them out soon. Anyway, what we have here is a vigorous monster of black metal. Consisting of only five tracks and a total run time of only 28 and a half minutes, it is a very short album. Fast and furious would actually be a very fitting description of this album, however, I do wish it was a bit longer, being one of my complaints surrounding this release. The music itself may be chaotic, but at times, can also be melodic. Just listen to the riffing on "Liothe". Being the first song on the album, it starts off with a typical dark, fast black metal riff with a blast beat. Once Skamfer's vocals kick in, the guitar riffs turn into a melodic, dark mass all the while keeping the brutality. This is the case throughout the record, and one could describe it as "beauty within chaos". This is a formula often used in black metal, and Heresi pulls it off very well.

Although it is a chaotic, face ripping beast to conquer, it is also, as mentioned earleir, quite a short ride. Upon picking the album up for the first time, I expected each song to be around 8-10 minutes long, as that is a commonality for the genre. But with songs only ranging from three and a half minutes to six and a half minutes, it really does leave the impression that, simply put, this album is supposed to be a quick kick to the face, and it certainly feels as such, in a positive way of course. I just wish there was more to be savored here. In the end, this is still an amazing album that any fan of black metal could enjoy. So go ahead, indulge yourself in this beautiful mess! Also, check out Heresi's "Psalm I" EP. It is a worthy prequel to this.

Sweden's Heresi are no different to the majority of black metal bands. There main selling point lies in the guitar work. Skamfer is at the heart of this band, controlling it's every move. He leads Heresi by himself, but no matter how many one man bands I come across, they still impress me. As I say, he controls all the strings. From the guitar work, to the percussion section of Heresi, Skamfer is there, leading the band into the new era of modern day black metal.


One might say this Swedish outfit is reliant on the guitars perhaps a bit too much. It's the guitars that really stand out, again, on this black metal release, 'Psalm II - Infusco Ignis'. Whilst the other aspects of Heresi remain fairly standard to the genre, the guitar work really does excel. This is where the main positives of 'Psalm II - Infusco Ignis' really come from, the guitar work. Musicianship has to go down as a positive also, due to the aforementioned worked on the guitars. Perhaps it's unfair of me to tag this as a fairly standard black metal outfit, but that is what they are. In this day and age, us black metal fans have become accustomed to the bands within the genre becoming slightly more avant-gardé in sound. Bands have begun to fuse genres together, whether that be folk with black metal, or a blackened funeral doom style, straight forward black metal is really becoming a dying art. However, bands like Heresi are here to make that change.


Whilst the world of black metal has welcomed an influx of depressive bands, or bands of a psychedelic nature, albums like 'Psalm II - Infusco Ignis' have really had to be at their best to make it in the world of extreme music. Why? As I say, they're not the norm anymore. Far from it in actual fact. Bands like Heresi are no frills bands. No nonsense style, which is something that will definitely suit a lot of people. A lot of fans of the whole genre of black metal are becoming sick of bedroom bands, or bands experimenting for the sheer sack of experimenting, so something as straight forward as this is probably a welcome break and in essence, it truly is. I wouldn't call this old school, but it has a certain old school way about it. Those thrash induced guitars are the main reason for my saying this. They remind me of how black metal used to be made. The melody of thrash is something most people can enjoy, even if they don't particularly like the genre on the whole. So, the inclusion of thrash type riffs to 'Psalm II - Infusco Ignis' is a notable positive. There are times when 'Psalm II - Infusco Ignis' will remind the audience of Mayhem's infamous 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'. Even the percussion work reminds me of that particular Mayhem album. The general sound of the production, the sound of both the guitars and the drums remind me a lot of it. Having said that, the riffs that are produced on this album aren't too similar to that on 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'.


The other elements of this album aren't exactly up to the standard of the guitars, but they're good enough to pass this album off as an enjoyable listen. Whilst the percussion is also somewhat inventive, like the guitars, it doesn't refrain from reverting back to the old style of pure aggressive blast beats. Fans of olden day black metal records will enjoy this element of Heresi's music without a doubt. The style of vocals actually reminds me a bit of middle day Darkthrone releases. Whilst they're not that impressive, they're suited to Heresi. All in all, this album is really a solid piece of misanthropic art. A return to the old days? Quite possibly.

Ahhh, yet another batch of promo CDs – just like Christmas (without the Christ, naturally). You know what that means - my ears are about to be graced with, amongst other things, the misanthropic thrashings of someone else with access to a drum machine and a whole lot of repressed emotions. This time around, my aural beating comes courtesy of Skamfer(ex-Ondskapt)’s new project, Heresi - yet another one-man black metal “band” hailing from the frostbitten shores of Sweden. I know, I’ve got it coming to me – I’m the token black metaller we have on staff here, and god knows, I love the stuff. It just boggles my mind, though, how my blackened brothers have such difficulty getting along…they seem to be so unable to withstand the presence of others that they’re rendered incapable of forming a full, multi-member band. It’s a wonder Twilight turned out as well as it did, considering the sheer terror the members must have felt in the face of (gasp!) collaboration.

All bitching aside, though, Psalm II: Infusco Ignis does its best to distance itself from the “bedroom black metal” archetype. This is a re-press of the album, which had previously been released on Total Holocaust some time ago. Surprisingly, Heresi’s not signed to any of the more traditionally blackened labels – Skamfer’s latest is out on Hydra Head, a label known more for its experimental outings than its grim aesthetics. Unlike Hydra Head’s sole other black metal artist (Xasthur, for those who’re entirely out of the loop, BM-wise), Heresi plays fairly straight-forward, legit black metal, rife with thrashy melodies and unhindered by psychedelic noodlings (ahem, Nachtmystium) or droning ambient freakouts (‘sup Blut aus Nord?). This is purely evil, cold black metal that hails from the genre’s true homeland (screw Norway - Bathory inspired Darkthrone, not the other way around!). The requisite buzzing guitars and punishing blastbeats (they're live - Skamfer uses no drum machine) are present, and, while the lyrics are all in Skamfer’s native tongue, one can surmise from the overall tone of the record that whatever it is he’s growling about, it’s probably pretty damn hateful. The sound on this is remarkably full – one wouldn’t be able to pick it out as a one-man project at all.

While there’s nothing really ground-breaking or original on this album, Skamfer manages to take a tried-and-true template and make it seem vital. Psalm II: Infusco Ignis is steeped in that elusive icy quality that it seems only Scandinavians can pull of properly, and slithers along on that filthy of groove that Skamfer’s geographical brothers, the Finnish BM hordes, are so good at doing nowadays. He also mixes it up a bit vocally - he takes a more guttural approach, sticking to deeper bellows that sound simply demonic in nature and bloodthirsty in intent, as opposed to the usual shrieking yowls one so frequently hears in this style. Thrashy elements and bits of melody add to the allure, and keep one from becoming too paralyzed by grimness.

In short, Psalm II: Infusco Ignis is nothing you haven’t heard before, but, with Heresi, Skamfer probably does it better than most of the other bands that exemplify this particular sound. According to the press release, the man behind this album has spent several years in various mental institutions scattered throughout Sweden; it begs contemplation of the line between insanity and genius. I’m not calling Skamfer a genius, per se, but Psalm II: Infusco Ignis is exemplary. Think what you want about that, and make it a point to give this album a listen if you like your metal black.

This is a solo project from Sweden’s Skamfer, whose previous band Ondskap were responsible for the sublimely evil Dödens Evangelium - A near neo-masterwork in the canon of Black Metal.

The first solo effort as Heresi, Psalm I opened proceedings on more religiously themed project than Ondskap offered. Though not being as overtly and devoutly Satanic as a band such as Deathspell Omega in lyricism or imagery, the music carried the weight of Skamfer’s ideology and drove it’s point home ferociously hard.

Now he releases Psalm II and it truly is a superior sequel in every way imaginable. The similarity to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is immediately apparent from the first beating of drums in Liotte to the almost exact replica of the riff from ‘Freezing Moon’ in Dionyssosinitiationen. No apology is required for this as the utter ferocity and ambience of the tracks are in keeping with the spirit of the originals, and possibly exceed them in terms of sonic accomplishment. What is most spectacular about this album is the interaction of sounds of all the instruments. The drums are pushed as hard as they can feasibly go, with the booming toms filling out the low space underneath the almost Death-Metal like snares, that stop short of that dry click too apparent in Death circles. These snares keep a sickly, sticky film of necrotic filth clinging to them that sprays off the skin every time it hits. The kick drums are an immensely powerful ripple underpinning the set and act as the depth charge forcing the music upwards like an underwater explosion. There is a great contrast in the sound of the guitar work, with razor sharp riffs in the driving sections, descending into a murky wash during periods of miasmic turbulence. There is a black hearted groove and rock and roll element in the chest of this record, and it is at once a joyous and intimidating spectacle to behold.

Though this record is sadly all to bound to it’s reference points to be a unique and standalone experience it is a masterful recording in all other respects that requires immediate attention and repeated plays that acquits itself venerably at exceedingly high volume.