DISJECTA – DA MARMOREA LAPIDE OMBRATI (Vomitium Niger Productions)

Already nine years young, this was originally recorded as a demo in 2002 but re-issued as Disjecta’s official label debut by VNP in 2006. It remains their only release to date. The 30 minutes’ music hereon is a blizzard of black majesty. Depending on where you glean your information from, this is either a one-man or two-man band fronted by the mysteriously-named Kathaarian and ‘Da Marmorea Lapide Ombrati’ sounds like anything but a re-released, almost-lost-in-the-cobwebbed-catacombs demo. Kudos to Vomitium Niger Productions for excavating this lost gem and boo to me for missing it first time around.

The five tracks on here are of a quality easily comparable to the superb Leviathan, Xasthur, Crebain, Draugar and so on. Suffice to say, Disjecta brings something worthwhile to the table and this CD was a most welcome newcomer in my swelling collection.

I know a lot of people won’t have the balls to try this out and I can almost hear the whiny moans of ‘I’ve heard it all before’ tripping off the tongues of the indignant. As it’s not my job to try to sell you this piece of cult underground magnificence, all I can really do is urge a leap of faith. I really think you should give ‘Da Marmorea Lapide Ombrati’ a go. It’s your loss if you don’t…

From the fucked-up opening strains of ‘When the Pestilence was Born from a Rib of Evil’ through to the deliciously evil horror-film-soundtrack denouement of outstanding twelve-minute masterpiece ‘Inno a Nerone’, this album is a devilishly delightful ride. The vocals are almost as stretched as we’d hear on a Striborg release; guitars alternate teasingly between tremolo and atmospheric acoustic (as well as exploring a whole plethora of avenues in between); the prominent drums (they sound real…) pulverise everything in sight yet hold it all together like Satan’s glue.

All in all, this is a wondrous release with tons of menace, fuckloads of dynamic, multiple ambient passages and an intense underlying desperation. Without labouring the point, I will be so bold as to add that the fifth and final track is as good an ambient BM track as you’re likely to hear. Highly recommended – and I’m sure I’ve spotted it recently in a few online bargain basements, so this can be acquired for a pittance.

Evilometer: 444/666