Mar 092023
 

This year the Hungarian black metal band Aetherius Obscuritas celebrate their 21st year of existence by releasing their ninth album overall. Bearing the name A sors szürke pora (“The Grey Dust of Predestination”), it will hit the streets on April 15th through the cooperation of Ukraine-based GrimmDistribution and the U.S. label Paragon Records.

The last time we spoke of this veteran band was in 2020, when they released Mártír, the immediate predecessor to A sors szürke pora. We wrote then:

The Hungarian black metal band Aetherius Obscuritas are certainly capable of mounting musical assaults of cut-throat savagery and spine-tingling wildness, but what makes their new album Mártír stand out from the barbaric pack is, for want of a better word, their adventurousness. The compositions are elaborate and multi-faceted, and the results can seem like musical potions that produce enthralling as well as electrifying effects.

We’ve repeated that little summary because you’ll find some of those same adjectives in our following descriptions of two songs from the new album, one of which we’re happily premiering today — “Cloak of Wolves“. Continue reading »

Mar 082020
 

 

The Hungarian black metal band Aetherius Obscuritas are certainly capable of mounting musical assaults of cut-throat savagery and spine-tingling wildness, but what makes their new album Mártír stand out from the barbaric pack is, for want of a better word, their adventurousness. The compositions are elaborate and multi-faceted, and the results can seem like musical potions that produce enthralling as well as electrifying effects. The song we’re premiering today, “Ilyen a vér (Blood Is Like This)“, is a great example of such ingeniously conceived and sharply executed adventures.

The core duo that makes up Aetherius Obscuritas, Viktor (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards) and Zson (drums) have been working together under that name for roughly 18 years, long enough to become familiar with each other’s talents and propensities but quite obviously not so long as to settle into stagnancy. In that time they’ve recorded eight albums, including Mártír, but still seem to be pushing themselves into new musical territories, perhaps most obviously on this new album. It follows the last one by a significant five years and will be released on April 15th by GrimmDistribution (Ukraine) and Paragon Records (U.S.). Continue reading »