MYSTERIES is dedicated to Portuguese Black Magic, to those who damn their souls summoning the dead, to fulfill their will of CHAOS and EVIL.
3rd press on 140g blue vinyl housed in a 300gsm jacket with matte varnish and inside flooded in black. Includes a double-sided printed 250gsm cardboard insert and a A2 poster on 150gsm art paper.
Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies.
This is as primitive and raw as black metal it gets. Black Cilice's "Mysteries" is an audio bombardment of reverb and distortion on all levels, it, therefore, makes it sound utterly chaotic with instruments burry upon each other consequently make the entire listening experience overwhelming in a good sense. Even though it is very raw, the sonic sound does not sound thin in the slightest, there are so many layers to each of the tracks on this it tacks many listens to truly pick out and understand what going on.
The guitar riffs sound like it has been recorded in a cave this gives it a very unique sound. the guitar riffs are quite distinguishable from another and they are even quite catchy on this LP compared some of the demos. That is not to say the demos are not good, I think they are really good in fact are just different from the new material that Black Cilice is releasing nowadays. There is also this ear piercing feedback that has a peaking effect, this a unique feature added to all the tracks it actually makes it more hypnotic to listen to this especially present through "A Prayer From Beyond".
The vocals are otherworldly, they sound like howls from the tormented pits of hell. Black Cilice's vocal styles have very slightly from each realises wherein some previous releases it has either been quite noticeable vocals like in the bands latest releases such their 2017 realise "Banished From Time", it is still raw howling. Or has completely blended in with the sheer intensity of the music like in their 2013 LP "Summoning The Night". The drums are as well quite primitive at times using tom rhythms that are almost tribal, there are examples of this littered throughout the whole LP but there is one noticeable one during "Ceremonial Energy". Moreover, the drums really fit the music adding some interesting ideas to accompany the hellish riffs.
The edition of Vinyl I have is hand numbered to 300 editions and it is pressed onto dark green vinyl which looks absolutely beautiful. it comes with a card insert with info about the album and comes with an A2 poster. This really makes this album really special for me, it feels very personal due to having a limited copy.
So saying all that I conclude this review by saying Black Cilice is not for every black metal fan because of overly raw nature. But it is a true gem, and it has the true essence of black metal being mysterious from not even who the members of the band are all the way to the band not even publishing the lyrics on this album. It is truly very good and worth multiple listens.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=67aqxLsVx7w
