HeavyHardMetalmania: Carpe Noctem: In Terra Profugus Review

This time we head of to the mysterious and magical island of Iceland (You know the word Island in Swedish means Iceland and if you want to say island you just say ö, well enough of that!)

Today I'm listening to Icelandic black metal, and it comes in the form of the band Carpe Noctem and their album In terra profugus.

And what does this sound like you ask? Well it is one hell of a ride I tell you. And it is a ride that you really should take, cause it is a fantastic ride.

A lot of times when I'm listening through the new batch of promos I have received I can generally pin point most bands pretty quick. But not this one, and that is what makes it so great in my opinion. It demands you full attentions, cause at a whim it changes direction and starts doing something unexpected. The promo sheet that came with album states something in the vain that it is Icelandic chaotic black metal, and boy it is. And I do want to emphasize that I say this as the highest of compliment. My first thought was, this is what it would sound like if Immolation would release an black metal record, chaotic , awesome and and full of disharmony. I really feel that this album would be the perfect soundtrack for a vacation in Iceland. Just walking around and taking in the landscape. Cause this album just sweeps me away and it is like you are exploring a new world, an ever changing world.

The music ranges from chaotic, dis-harmonic blast beat filled black metal frenzy to calm soothing mellow stuff with clean guitars just caressing the eardrums. And to smack you in the face again just when you are setting in to mellow mood. And I guess that that is one of the thing that I thing is so cool, I love that feeling that you get a smack in the face of the music, since it demands your attention, it does not just want to be listened to in the background. It wants to challenge you, and if you take you attention of it, you will get punished. Of course the staples of black metal are here aswell. Blast beats, tremolo picking riffs and screaming, growling vocals. But there is a willingness to add a fragile beauty to the music which is rare. The clean parts are not written to sound evil, they are just there to be lovely. What I really dig about the clean parts are that they are often dis-harmonic (yes I know I come back to this a lot but I like disharmony damn it!!) Some parts are doomy aswell, which is a big plus for me. It is not only for the clean parts the guys slows down, some time they take it slow in the chaos aswell. And when this happens, the magic is really flowing.

The vocals are what you can expect from a black metal album, growls a screams. The guy does it very competently and he adds another mesmerizing layer to the music.

The production is very good, it is crisp and clear. You can hear every instrument clear and in all the chaos this is a good thing, since I think a lot of this albums grandeur would have been lost if the production would just have had been a big mess! The clean guitars a really sounding well, they are so crisp that it puts a smile on my face, they are dreamy! I guess that is a word that describes this album well in it's entirety. Dreamy, maybe a strange choice of word for a black metal album but I think it fits. Since it is like it lifts you up and takes you away, it takes you to the place it wants to take you. And that is not necessarily the place you where expecting!

So if you like chaotic black metal with more twists and turns then a Swiss mountain road this is the album for you.

Sweden`s Wilhelm Lindh*, "Portuguese by adoption," guitar player, composer and owner of the Doom / Death Metal band The Gardnerz, reviews here in HeavyHardMetalmania.net. Careful and professional analysis to the music and albums with suggestions of what there is to see and hear ... not to be missed. "The wisdom is found in the extremes, all extreme Metal here!".

Genre: Black Metal

Label: Code666

Playing time: 52:16

Release date: 16 September 2013

Band homepage: Carpe Noctem

Recorded and produced by Árni Bergur Zoëga

Mixed & mastered by Riccardo Pasini
Artwork by Antti Salminen

Layout by Carpe Noctem