Abhor "Ritualia Stramonium" CD

Celebrating their 20th anniversary, the Italian black metal institution Abhor is about to release the sixth full-length, titled “Ritualia Stramonium”, via Moribund Records.
Abhor present us an essentially mid-tempo album in which the keyboards with a Eucharistic taste are the main attraction. Even so, there are some fast passages, like in “Diabolus est qui id invocate” or “Circle of Stones”, that succeed very morbid soundscapes – something that Abhor tend to easily achieve in this new record. But still talking about the keyboards, that evident tool is able to take us into funereal sceneries, black rites, heathen ceremonies or even through the painful and slow path towards the Calvary or Hell’s fire – all of it in an ostentation of noble darkness. Having in count the constant using of keyboards, there can be found some atmospheric passages in which that instrument unites with the full-bodied guitar with the intention of creating a wall of sound of black metal Sulphur. On the other hand, the using of repetitive musical phrases is also implemented in “I…the Witch”, a track that reaches a final moment full of obscure and dreadful screams. The night and its creatures also have their space in “The Chant of the Owl”, being the longest (9 minutes) and most melodic song.
This is an album that may suit those who like to hear a powerful and audible bass guitar that in its distorted plenitude is able to, a lot of times, superimpose the rest of the instruments. Regarding the vocals department, Ulfhedhnir applies a tenebrous, decrepit, inquisitive and even claustrophobic voice, like in “De exorcismis et supplicantionibus quibusdam”. The album closes with a symbolic piano song, titled “Requiem for Errans Infernorum”, dedicated to Errans Infernorum who was the guest keyboardist in two Abhor’s albums and that have died last year at the age of 37.

TRUE OCCULT RITUAL BLACK METAL !!! At long last, Italian black metal institution ABHOR unleash their long-awaited sixth album, “Ritualia Stramonium”. Four years since their last MORIBUND album, the critically acclaimed “Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti”, ABHOR here dive deeper into the ancient mysticism of classic black metal. Never one for trends, the trio turn “Ritualia Stramonium” into a ritualistic ride through cobwebbed corridors, skeletal forests, and melancholic castle towers. With medieval organ at the fore, “Ritualia Stramonium” isn't so much a "retro" black metal record that harks back to the mid '90s as it is something truly and authentically grounded in that era - because ABHOR have been practicing the black arts since 1995. Death to modernism, as the old ways take over once again...heed the call of ABHOR's “Ritualia Stramonium”!

Sample: