Year: 2025
Label: Hellprod Records/Murder Records
Portuguese black metal. Whilst for most it may not ring a bell, for those who do, it usually associates to exceedingly raw, lo-fi and abrasive stuff. Ugly stuff, and a bit of an acquired taste.
Portuguese one-man band Vetus Sanguis take a bit of a different approach. Whilst being quite raw and vicious in their expression, their sound doesn’t reach to the depths of necro that some fellow countrymen do. Which makes Capítulo I – Dimensão Horrenda far more easier to approach.
In a nutshell, Dimensão Horrenda is quite easy to pigeonhole. Viciously sawing riffs, speedily pounding drums, largely absent bass in the mix, violently croaking vocals. Yes indeed, there’s no shortage of bands treading along this same path of raw black metal informed by the 90’s and early noughties styles.
In other words. Yes, you can draw a lineage to the rawer end of the spectrum of classic Scandinavian black metal. But also to, for example, 90’s French bands – certain musically less obscure Les Legions Noires acts, mayhap!
The end result is raw and vicious, but thanks to a rather balanced and clear sound, not hopelessly grimy. The drums occasionally sound programmed (I don’t know if they are), but as far as the musicianship and sound goes, that’s my only point of complaint. Dimensão Horrenda sounds like it should for an album of this style.
The shortcoming of this album is in memorable tracks. It’s straightforward, uniform rawness from start to end. Little in terms of melodies, little in terms of memorable riffs. And catchy choruses? Don’t even entertain the idea. So Vetus Sanguis’ debut sadly slides into the realm of facelessness.
In fact, the only track that leaves a serious impression is The Possibility Of Life’s Destruction – sadly, the track is a cover of UK82 legends Discharge, and the cover is pretty tepid. It stands out like a sore thumb in comparison to the rest.
This alone relegates Dimensão Horrienda to the close but no cigar box. But it’s not a disastrous thing: the project only has four years under its belt, and this is only the debut album. We’ve said it before, and we say it again: if the sole major flaw of a debut album is facelessness, then things are far from bad. There’s time yet to develop a distinctive sound.
And for Vetus Sanguis, that’s essentially all that’s missing. A distinctive take on the raw, venomous style of black metal they play. And maybe one or two gobsmacker tracks.
Only Death Is Real 