Saturday, March 10, 2018

Gilded And Grotesque...

Et Moriemur - Epigrammata (2018)


Coming four years after their last album, Epigrammata shows the Czech group of Et Moriemur performing in high form, with a blend of black, death, and doom metal furnished in elegant presentation and finesse in crafting. Piano melodies thread through bellows and sinister bass drones, choral arrangements mix with razor-ground guitar-work, and moments of tenuous serenity are regularly bashed into pieces. Good handling of tension and momentum give the songs an unnervingly focused honing of their tone, and while a few of the tracks sound a bit too similar for the good of the album, the band's care for letting individual moments have adequate room to breathe helps Epigrammata rise above a pretty large slice of their peers' efforts.
As the majority of the music operates with an ear towards atmosphere as the dominant quality, there's some paucity of memorable riffs. Luckily, the band is deft enough with their juggling of the various elements at play to keep it from growing overbearing, and the production has enough power to it to effectively serve the king-sized sound. A few sections of somber spoken-word glazing are evocative of Ulver's late-'90s material, but by and large, Et Moriemur do a fine job of establishing their own style. Check it out if big and bold doom with emphasis on mood over fuzz fits your tastes.
~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Gallow God, Lurk, Tons, Ulver, White Darkness




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