ORTHODOXY - Ater Ignis LP

It was but 2019 when ORTHODOXY made their full-length debut with Novus Lux Dominus. With members hailing from DOMAINS, it was perhaps unsurprising that ORTHODOXY emerged with such impact and immediacy. Although salacious, supernatural slime had been brewing with the band's 2015 demo - and the Spaniards had formed sometime during the past decade - Novus Lux Dominus was a magickal experience: all-caps DEATH METAL, pure and proud, but with sights solely focused on the Beyond. Its incredibly dark and sinister delights were hailed far and wide.

Now, Orthodoxy dive deeper into the bowels of the Beyond with their second album, Ater Ignis. Thankfully, no great changes have been made - their execution's still utterly gutted, muscularity in hideous alignment with atmosphere, and production sympathetic to both - but there's a pronounced lurking dread here. For one, the seven-song/45-minute album suggests more epic constructions, and twistingly epic songwriting one will find here in Ater Ignis' abyss. That that songwriting seems to slither and twisted in vulgar ways renders Orthodoxy's Metal of Death all the more unique when stacked against nowadays' glut of "caverncore." For another, while their attack still maintains a straightforward sensibility, there's equally a sense of the ceremonial here - of eldritch blood rites, celestial sadism, the taboo made flesh. The crisp production once again heightens Orthodoxy's subtly keen execution, with the occasional appearance of haunting leads further making Ater Ignis an otherworldly experience.

Black vinyl LP in reverse print sleeve with insert.

The Sinister Flame 2022