Adornus Satani

I am really glad to see, that there are still some real satanists out there, although I like the other styles and intentions black metal can have. It is kind of refreshing to find a release as satanic and evil-minded as this one, but it is really hard to say, how far the members are bound into the realms of the South American satanist scene or even take satanism seriously. Because if they don't, this whole thing is nothing but a farce. A good sounding one.

I dedicated my first words to the image the band is creating, because it is impossible to miss. The booklet, which is printed on high-gloss paper is an eye-catcher in the first moment and then leaves the contemplator torn between being impressed by explicit satanism and being amused about the amount of fully colored and fake-blood-spilled pictures of the band.
I think everyone has to form an opinion for himself. I take Spell Forests satanism for real, although I consider those pictures as gone too far.

Let us get to the music.
The style Spell Forest plays can be considered as somewhere between symphonic and Black Witchery-like war black metal. The keyboards do have an important role in the whole music, as they create most of the melodies and carry a lot of atmosphere. Sometimes they intend to sound dramatic, as the rising of Satan himself, sometimes there is more of a pagan addiction. Those two aspects are also shown in the interludes given, which are sometimes listed as full tracks and sometimes put into songs. In whole, they are too long, anyway. Screams, liturgies and battles on and on. Boring after a while. And worse: If you listen closely to the interludes you will recognize the same soundsamples, screams for example, just put together in a different way.

A funny thing by the way is, that there is a drummer listed and shown in the booklet, but the whole album the drums sound as if they came from a drum machine, especially in the faster songs. Miaybe the "drummer" is the one who programmed them? I don't know, but it is not bad. Far from it. They fit perfectly into the created mood: Sick, mechanically satanic and absolutely reckless. The guitars are quite low, so the keyboards and drums shape the sound and the varied speed, which never sinks below mid-tempo keeps the songs interesting.

Not to forget the vocals. Lord Mephyr does such a great job, he will also make cold-hearted people shiver. His evilishky possessed vocals are summoned the whole time in changing heights, but always nasty and raw.
Damn!

"Adornus Satani" is a very good first full-length, also considering that we are talking about a band from South America. I would recommend it to everyone who likes the symphonic style of black metal and is willing to break down some barriers to war black metal, or the other way round. I really like the music, athough I am annoyed by all those interludes where the satanism is practiced this explicitly. A tightrope-walk it is, which everyone has to deliberate about for himself.

My opinion is clear - very good music with potential for some augmentation on future releases combined with a quite ridiculous, but seriously meant image.