Ondskapt - Draco Sit Mihi Dux

Acerbus – vocals, guitar
Wredhe – guitars, backing vocals
S.B. – bass
Nabemih – drums

Originally unleashed by the now-defunct Selbstmord Services, Ondskapt's second release (after the ‘Slave Under His Immortal Will' EP) has now been picked up by Oaken Shield, and it's a good thing they did so. This is just too good to sink into out-of-print obscurity.

Very obviously influenced by Mayhem's timeless ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' masterpiece, ‘Draco Sit Mihi Dux' is 6 untitled tracks of epic, morbid “Religious” black metal – essentially meaning it focuses on orthodox devil worship. Not that this is overly obvious from the extremely minimalistic packaging – hell, the only visual indication of the band's ideology is the inverted cross in their logo. In this case, the music does all the talking.

Kicking off with an ironic choral/piano intro, which suddenly warps out of key and leads into a storm of fast black metal chaos, the album then cycles between warp-speed violence and a trudging doom-laden crawl, occasionally further breaking down into atmospheric acoustics. The vocals are another indication of the Mayhem influence – a torturous combination of acerbic rasps, demented moans and crackling whispers. This is on top of the music being simultaneously dense and cavernous in it's overall sound, so all in all this is the perfect album for those who seek a logical successor to the aforementioned classic. It's somewhat more experimental, frequently much slower and without the overwhelming bass presence, which actually brings the originator of this sound – namely, Thorns – to mind. The slower sections often bring to mind the brilliance of the ‘Trondertun' demo material. But when it comes down to it, Ondskapt have their own unique sound, which makes this even more of a gem. I've yet to hear the followup ‘Dödens Evangelium' but I can imagine it's equally as brilliant as this one.

Since it's obvious that the current incarnation of Mayhem will never come close to replicating it's brilliance (in fact, the recent re-addition of Atilla Csihar is more likely to result in further experimental bollocks than any kind of return to form), it's good to know bands like Ondskapt are continuing Euronymous's legacy without resorting to shameless cloning.

February 27th, 2006