I’ve known about Arum since 2001 when they released their first cd. This is their second. This Brazilian black metal band is not bad but nothing extraordinary either. I do not want to trash them because I like the album and it shows effort, but nothing original here, which is usually not a sticking point for me, but the playing is average as well.

The lyrics are typical low brow black metal stuff, calling up demons, rotting corpses, wrath of Lucifer, etc. “The Skies of Armaggeda” even contains the phrase burn, christian, burn. You’ve got to love that. I’m poking fun here but actually the lyrics are pretty well written. Here is an example, “Pathetic scapegoat wireless allegoric puppet, Surreal scarecrow surrounded by imaginary spectra landscape, Blazing scourge psychosomatic stigmata morbid necrosis…” As you can see vocalist Marcelo is making it pretty tough for himself, not easy phrases to scream. The pace is mixed a bit from slow to mid tempo, mostly the speed is dictated by the drumming. The guitars tend to stay slow. The sound quality is good with all instruments distinct. I’ll pick out two songs that express their style well. “The Skies of Armaggeda” has nice bass lines that they keep going back to throughout the song which ties everything together well.

The pace is good and the rhythm sticks in your head. There is the obligatory haunting vocals in a well done mellow section. Lots of cymbal work to carry the beat. The drumming is quite more than Darkthrone mimicry and there are some memorable, if derivative, guitar leads. The flip side of the band is a sloppy acoustic interlude with female backing vocals called “Hecate Chant”. Some nice ideas and good compositions make this a band to check back with in the future.

I especially like their willingness to incorporate more mellow aspects and some melody into the otherwise suitably harsh delivery.

[Visit the band's website]

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