ARYAN ART / CRIPTA OCULTA – Нашите Древни Символи / Os Nossos Símbolos Anciãos (Master Of All Evil)

The natural marriage between these two bands wasn’t wholly unexpected considering that Cripta Oculta’s last full-length, ‘Rios Que Correram… Rios Que Secaram’ was released in its (original) cassette format on the label fronted by Aryan Art mastermind Alexander.  That was a bloody fine release – and so is ‘Нашите Древни Символи / Os Nossos Símbolos Anciãos’.

The drawback is that there’s only one eleven-minute offering from each band but it must be pointed out that this is reflected in the price as these cassette releases are generally cheap as fuck. I only paid four or five quid for this one. And it’s a pro tape with lyrics included – not that those are worth a shit to me or to anyone else for that matter…

Aryan Art’s contribution starts off all shamanic like Blood of the Black Owl before developing into a raging piece of proud, traditional Black Metal that soars and screeches its way into the ear canal; Cripta Oculta delivers a (possibly more restrained) Lusitanian ode to honour that is on a par with the material on the aforementioned album of two years ago. All things considered, this is a great example of nationalistic BM from the ancient lands of Bulgaria and Portugal.

Evilometer: 555/666