In Nostro Omnium Fletu

Well, this review is written on the 2006 re-release of the 1995 demo by Sign of KatuMarus; their one and only. Actually, it is rather astounding to find it pop-up after all these years at all. Black Metal from Spain does not appear on the radar of the scene a lot, so some might be curious to give this piece from the early days of their scene a try. Maybe by putting it in a broader perspective and history, the way it is perceived might get a boost and praising could be possible in some sort of narrow sense. Yes, the issue has already been touched: the performance by Sign of KatuMarus offers nothing outstanding on this demo.

Minimalist old-school black metal with a touch of synths in the background, this is the basic style Sign of KatuMarus follow on five compositions; one of them would be a Judas Iscariot cover. When it comes to the tempo, then the Spanish band feels more comfortable with blasts, but some slower interludes have been woven into the compositions, too. Excessive tremolo picking, little variation in the riffs etc.... it does not need further explanation; pretty basic stuff here.

Well, as this release comes with a different track list than the original demo, the question arouses whether this change had any effect on the music... and it did. The opener and title track In Nostro Omnium Fletu, to name one example, sounds like having a transition at the end, which had been cut for the re-release. When it comes to the music then the impression of it being very generic and plain, occasionally also reaching the point of being a strain to the ear, increases the longer one listens to it. An emphasis lays on the blast parts, yet they are so monotonous respectively an endless repetition of some motives that even in the light of being a release from 1995 it is difficult to find a lot of positive aspects in the swamp of mediocre from which it has been raised. Norsecore, as a descriptive term, covers a good deal of the approach Sign of KatuMarus chose for this release; with the exception of the cover version of a Judas Iscariot song, which would offer more facets.

The oeuvre of the band is simply too limited, so a recommendation is rather given to fans of the old-school genre. Maybe they find something good here... I doubt it though.