Artist......: Irae
Album.......: Assim na Terra como no Inferno
Year........: 2022
Genre.......: Black Metal
Label.......: Signal Rex
Cat.No......: SIGNAL231
Source......: CD
Encoder.....: libFLAC 1.3.1 20141125
Quality.....: 892 kbps avg. / 44.1kHz / 2 channels
Playtime....: 00:39:11 (262.00MB)
R.date......: 2023-06-02
S.date......: 2022-12-23
Website.....:
Disc 1 / 1
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01. V Caminhv Primitiv 5:32
02. Pvr Tempvz de DecadΩnzia 3:42
03. Relφqvia de Espinhvz 4:12
04. Zangrandv v Rebanhv... Uma Melodia de Loboz 6:08
05. Majestade de Sangue 7:26
06. Sφmbolos do ImpΘrio 6:37
07. Enforcamento 5:34
There is a fine line between so-called "raw" black metal and, with the
greatest of respect, unlistenable horseshit. A direct descendant of
DARKTHRONE's ruthlessly lo-fi "Under A Funeral Moon", this subgenre often
has a strong whiff of The Emperor's New Clothes about it, and yet all the
cynicism in the world can't undermine the fact that IRAE are very much the
real deal. Wildly prolific and resolutely immune to the lure of modern
technology, the Portuguese enigma has done wonders for his native
underground scene and, via albums like 2020's "Lurking in the Depths", he
has presented some pretty convincing evidence that music this primitive and
abrasive can wield great power.
Only the fifth full-length IRAE album in 20 years (this guy loves a split
release), "Assim na Terra como no Inferno" is arguably too sonically full
to truly be regarded as raw black metal, but opener "V Caminhv Primitiv" is
an untamed blur of distortion and cavernous echo, nonetheless. IRAE's
humbly stated debt to second wave black metal is written through every riff
here, and the melodies cut through the clangor from the start, elevating an
otherwise impenetrable din into otherworldly realms. The noise-to-riffs
ratio leans defiantly one way on "Pvr Tempvz de DecadΩnzia", wherein a
droning, two-note riff underpins a whole shit-ton of freeform cacophony.
"Relφqvia de Espinhvz" is crazier still: at times, the music disappears
completely, leaving only a menacing haze of hisses and howls. As the
demented fog clears, however, spiraling melodic motifs and ramshackle
blastbeats emerge to form something more familiar, but no less
disorientating.
There is method in IRAE's madness, never clearer than on "Simbolos do
ImpΘrio". A straightforwardly great black metal song, with a near-chewable
sense of the epic, it sidesteps the rest of the album's artful ugliness and
hits harder as a result. The closing "Enforcamento" is similarly
unencumbered by experimental mischief and ends with a particularly
mesmerizing and profoundly melancholy melody: further proof of IRAE's
ambiguous relationship with underground purity. Whatever it is that's going
on here, it transcends the "raw" tag with ease, and sounds like a strong
addition to a rapidly expanding legacy.