You all know that I love my death metal but my other ion is a musical genre called dark ambient. Imagine sounds from field recordings, dark drones that bring a claustrophobic atmosphere. There are some people though that have to take the basic sound of every musical genre, take it to the extreme to create something new and that is where one of my favourite bands of all time MZ412 come in with the term “black industrial”. This is a term where they take elements of dark ambient and mix them with industrial music. In Nomine Dei Nostri Lucerferi Excelsi delivers a masterclass of haunting, demonic and down right evil music. The band have moved on considerably since then and ditched the corpse paint and black metal leanings for a more deep and blackened sound. Releasing a new album in February 2019 for the first time in twelve years, Annapurna are reminding everyone where black industrial began and releasing In Nomine Dei Nostri Luciferi Excelsi in vinyl is a first as well. The reason for this is simple…the world wants and needs it.
Everything about this record is brought together by masterminds Nordvargr, Ulvtharm, Drakhon and Shaitan. This is the soundtrack to nightmares, possibly the most thought-provoking and mindfuck of an album I have had the pleasure of listening to. I am privileged to still own the original Cold Meat Industry CD from 1995 and I playing my death metal throughout the day but when I wanted to feel scared or moved in a certain way, this record was always played on repeat at night with headphones on. This album along with In Slaughter Natives’s Sacrosancts Bleed opened up a completely different doorway in my musical path and I have never looked back since.
There are so many highlights and title track “In Nomine Dei” with its bleak atmosphere suddenly interrupted by sharp electronic bursts of energy and mixed with samples from my favourite film of all time Exorcist III, is my favourite track of the album. When the sample says “Nor canst thou kill me”, it is met by layer upon layer of sounds that integrate and manifest themselves, choreographed into making this my all time favourite MZ412 track. The near ten minute track of “Salvo Honoris Morte” with its distorted guitars and ritualistic drums may seem repetitive to most, but for the educated, you cannot deny the strength, power and genius behind this art form.
“God of Fifty Names” with its complex structures and hypnotic sounds just puts you into a trance. How these sounds are collected and arranged is extraordinary, MZ412 are true masters of their art. The spoken dialect at the beginning of “Daemon Raging” portraying a courtroom case of murder, demonic possession and Satanism can only be accompanied by harsh industrial and rhythmic drums.
As an extra for this re-release, we have two extra tracks that were on the five CD box set released by Cold Spring in 2010, namely “Surge 2” and “In Ritual of Blood and Oath” with the former being the harshest of the two tracks and indeed the whole album. Harsh screaming vocals are low in the mix of power electronics which MZ412 could succumb to every now and again.
Recordings of various instruments and everyday items such as pipes are arranged in such a way that have yet to be replicated in the scene and MZ412 remain kings of the harsh industrial/black industrial fields. I have had the pleasure of seeing the triumvirate of Nordvargr, Ulvtharm and Drakhon in London in 2011 and I wish I could see them live again. MZ412 have a huge back catalogue and I urge each and every one of you to check it out. This is my all time favourite MZ412 album and simply listen to it to this day. It will haunt you. It will scare you. It will enlighten you. Genius.
In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi is out now
MZ412: facebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ugaMDbZAs
Yet another great read and yet more for me to add to my playlist.
Thank you Ricky and Moshville Times
Thank _you_, Mark. No readers, no point in doing this!