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The over-populated subgenre of black metal – in this case, what they call the "raw" form of the aforementioned – is relentlessly breeding and spawning forth mostly the same stale product under different names. What more, most black metal musicians insist on playing their music fast rather than slow, thinking maybe it is more worthwhile as an added "shock value" of sorts to their already "shocking" music (mostly infantile theatrics) while neglecting the one main goal of black metal and that is to create atmosphere, to provoke thought and reflection, to help the listener to transcend, become one with the universe, with the elements (which, in fact, we are unified with) and those 'super-goals' can be best achieved by playing your music SLOW (did you ever stop to think why doom metal, for instance, is such an atmospheric subgenre, at least the good outfits out there who actually manifest the concept of 'doom'?)…
The Russian obscure one-man act Sigillum Diaboli, whose MCD bearing the same title is hereby discussed, is the paradoxical archetype of the above mentioned; mainly it manifests – on its initial part of this short mini album – the herd-like musical mentality that has blurred all difference amongst the numerous black metal acts out there, a fact that has produced a mass of uninspired copycats, faceless and those who unfortunately practice the most blatant anti-thesis to individuality (an ideal held high, allegedly, by most black metal bands), while the second, final part of the album is much closer to being the epitome of dark musical essence, cold, obscure and unique.
The built-in paradox is exactly the one mentioned above. Two opposites, one is the anti-thesis and the other is the actual philosophy that black metal should have embraced, but seldom does; the mundane and the mysterious, the disposable and the unforgettable…
An eerie church-like organ keyboards are briefly introducing the rest of the album, employing bass-heavy low-frequency somber notes, and as soon as the last of the keys die off, the clichéd black metal assaults with thin-sounding, repetitive guitar loops of nothing but the most blatantly plain and familiar metal of black; mid-paced, generically screamed, predictable, and completely uninteresting…
After about 3 full songs who are, give or take a riff, the same copies of each other – comes track number five, and a track for which this whole short mini album worth at all mentioning; dark, almost suicidal and very ambience-inducing piece which even though is more easy on the ears, is much heavier on the psyche. In the end, this is what all good music should work upon: the mind, the soul, consciousness… The closing track is as dark and mysterious as its predecessor and they both are very much dream-like and hypnotic in a way…
Sigillum Diaboli shows a lot of potential; it has got the right vision and elements to work with, the ideas manifested are showing a thinking mind and a potent musician behind them, and albeit these ideas, ideals and potentials only were only half realized with this mini CD, I want to see this project materialize into being a unique and original entity in the same manner as the intro and the couple of last songs herein are a living proof of…
| Tracklist |
| 1. Intro |
| 2. There Darkness Rules Over Light |
| 3. Inquisitional Delight |
| 4. Wandering |
| 5. Invocation |
| 6. Waste Of The Coldest Soul |
: 19.04
| Buy other Sigillum Diaboli albums |
