AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MONUMENTUM DAMNATI — “INFERNAL SUN”

 

We are told that Monumentum Damnati is an international project whose leaders are based in Eastern Europe, with attachments to better-known projects. Here, they have chosen to conceal their countenances in grotesque masks and their names with pseudonyms, allowing their dark, genre-bending music to speak for itself. Their first presentation is In The Tomb Of A Forgotten King, a full-length album that will be co-released on March 30th by the triumvirate of GrimmDistribution, The End Of Time Records, and More Hate Productions.

As mentioned, the music on this debut album is difficult to classify in genre terms, drawing as it does from traditions of melodic death metal, doom, and the amorphous category of music that has come to be known as “dark metal”, accompanied by accents of orchestration. A further hint about the band’s disinterest in being tied to a particular defined genre comes from reference points that are provided, which include such disparate names as Crematory, Trail Of Tears, Ajattara, The Vision Bleak, Dark the Suns, Morgul, and Enshine.

It’s probably not the case that any one song on the album can be held up as a representation of the album as a whole, but we do have a track to share today, presented through a mysterious music video. Its name is “Infernal Sun“, and  the tale it tells is emblematic of the band’s occult and mythic inspirations.

 

 

Here is a synopsis of that narrative that we have been provided:

“The song ‘Infernal Sun‘ tells a dark story in several parallels. On the one hand, it’s a monologue of the prophet, who turns distressing questions to the luminary and can’t find the answer to the main question — what will happen when he doesn’t wake up. Will the sun shine? Will life go on as usual? He is tormented by visions, illuminated by signs that he can only decipher as apocalyptic. Every time he falls asleep, he rethinks religious dogmas in a new way and blindly hopes that the horrible visions will end. But neither the Sun nor God can answer his questions.

“On the other hand, the song touches on one of the possible scenarios for the destruction of the Earth. Many scientists think that the Sun has already completed half of its life journey, and, when all the hydrogen in the depths of the Sun is converted to helium, the death process of the cosmic body will start…”

With respect to other themes among the tracks, we’re told that “On the other side of the tomb of the forgotten king there are apocalyptic visions, endless ice deserts, faces of mad killers and incomprehensible forms of the Great Ancients of Days…”

 

 

Musically, “Infernal Sun” is anchored by monumental drum blows, earth-shaking bass, a head-moving, chugging riff. Moving the song in a mid-paced momentum, those ingredients cloak the song in the dark, heavy mantle of doom and provide the ominous, magisterial foundation for the truly gargantuan growls that express the lyrics. Other contrasting melodic accents moving through and around this heaving sonic immensity — darting keyboard tones that give the music an ethereal dimension, a soulful and sinuous guitar solo that bespeaks grief, and sweeping cascades of backing sound that help elevate the music to a grand scale.

 

Greek musician/sound director Filippos Koliopanos (Ocean Of Grief) worked on the sound for In The Tomb A Of Forgotten King, and Olga Kann on the design.

To pre-order, and for more info about the release, check the links below:

PRE-ORDER:
https://grimmdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/057gd-monumentum-damnati-in-the-tomb-of-a-forgotten-king-2020

MORE INFO:
http://theendoftimerecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.morehate.com/
https://monumentumdamnati.bandcamp.com/releases

MONUMENTUM DAMNATI:
https://www.facebook.com/MonumentumDamnati

TRACK LIST:
01. The Shining
02. My Bloody JJ
03. There’s No Place For Life
04. Anabiosis
05. In The Tomb Of A Forgotten King
06. Infernal Sun
07. Falling Snow
08. Sleepless Anger
09. Exorcist
Length – 41:37