IGNIS MORTIS: Hæresis Maleficarum

Release year: 2024
Label: Hammer Of Hate Records

Formed from the ashes of a previous group called Evil Might, Finnish Ignis Mortis may be newcomers but they’re certainly no greenhorns: the trio’s collective CV within black metal stretches all the way back to the 90’s. Some of the bands in said CV include Arthemesia, who released two albums before calling it quits around 2010; Rienaus, who’ve released three albums thus far; and Cavus, who have two albums to their name.

As such, it comes as no surprise that on their first public release, Ignis Mortis present a very mature and complete package. No stylistic fumbling, no clumsiness, no flailing all over the place.

By and large, it’s quite easy to drop a couple of keywords to define Ignis Mortis’ take on black metal. Here we go: Finnish black metal; melodic black metal; late 90’s and early noughties. If one or more of the above tick your boxes, you’ll want to pay attention.

The three-track EP presents a very classic style of black metal, obviously heavily indebted to both the Finnish tradition of black metal, and the melodic-but-not-cheesy bands of the turn of the millennium. This translates to a style where melody does not come at the expense of rawness, and an almost omnipresent sense of melancholy doesn’t mean cheap goffik romance.

The EP kicks off with Noitasapatin irstaat syöjättäret, an almost ten minute track that’s clearly the most ambitious on the release. Sparse synths add atmosphere over the raw, buzzsawing riffing that sounds like a veil of fog and rain – certain references to Hvis Lyset Tar Oss/Filosofem era Burzum feel justified here. Despite not being overely complex, the atmospheric track effortlessly carries its weight for the entire nine minutes and fortyfive seconds; no mean feat!

Second track Kali Yuga Mysticus adds a bit of oomph to the mix. The track picks up the pace, speeding things up considerably; the classic tremolo riffing is fiercer and rawer; and yet, the underlying melancholy remains. The more aggressive approach stands in good contrast to the first track, proving there’s more than one dimension to Ignis Mortis’ sound. Third and final track Sanguine Luciferian Vampirism takes the rawness up one notch: its dominating aspect are the violently pounding drums, which subdue the atmospheric elements and accentuate the underlying violence.

Haeresis Maleficarum is a very satisfying EP-length release in the sense that its three tracks all have their own character, and there’s no filler here. And: best of all, despite each track being in some manner distinctively different from the others, Ignis Mortis manage to present a solid sound and style.

Originality is not the most prominent aspect here. On the contrary, Ignis Mortis build their sound from rather tried and true building blocks, allowing the heritage they carry to be heard in the music. When done this solidly, one cannot really hold that against them.

So, in a nutshell: if old melodic black metal piques your interest – if a combination of references such as early Seth, Thy Serpent, Satanic Warmaster’s brilliant Black Katharsis, early Thyrane and aforementioned Burzum sounds like your thing – then don’t dawdle about. Get this.

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