Kruzifix 🇵🇹 Inferi Occultum

Band: Kruzifix
Title: Inferi Occultum
Label: War Productions
Release date: 7 January 2022
Country: Portugal
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

This is the reissue of the demo by Kruzifix (a one man Black Metal band) that was released in 2020, along with three bonus tracks that are new. I didn’t know this band before “Inferi Occultum” arrived at my ears, but of course, there’s so much music out there to check, and I’m into Black Metal only since a few years ago, which is something I highly regret… So, I try my best to keep updated, which is of course impossible, but I love to dig into the underground scene and find true gems like this one…

What makes “Inferi Occultum” such a great release for me? Well, I think it’s because of all the elements together: the raw sound, the undeniable cold tone, the obsessive Black Metal riffs, the blast beats outbursts, the damn tortured vocals… I can’t talk from musical knowledge, as I’m only an enthusiast and don’t know a lot about technicalities, but I can tell when an album provokes good emotions inside me, and that’s what I always try to highlight in my reviews.

The title track, “Inferi Occultum”, starts with the sound of the wind that blows from the depths of some desolate landscape and an infectious riff in a slow tempo that picks up speed in a few, and the raw vocals appear in a demonic scream… well, that’s a great way to start. This first track is not all the time at high speed, but when drums are unleashed I really appreciate it! It ends with the same icy cold winds and I can really feel like I am there…

The cold tone is settled right from the start and this is the way in which the following tracks are developed. I love the way guitars resonate and reverb due to the raw production, and the vocals have an amplified effect too by using some distortion and some layers at the same time. Raw, cold, evil… what else do you want? The second of the three new themes, “The Personification of Evil”, is an almost 4 minute track of Black Metal Dungeon Synth, and the dark atmosphere is fully present here… a really good one.

I think that the album title, “Inferi Occultum” (which is Latin and means “The secret of Hell”) can give us very good hints of what this album is about… oh, and the most impressive thing is that there’s only a man, J., behind all the composition, lyrics, vocals and string instruments. I’m always stunned when a sole person can do that much, and is a fantastic way as is the case of Kruzifix! I’m sure we can expect great things coming from this band in the future. This is a 9/10 for me. Sílvia

Band
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Label
Site
YouTube
Bandcamp
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
Soundcloud

9/10 Epic Storm
**Please support the underground! It’s vital to the future of our genre**
#WeAreBlessedAltarZine
#TheZineSupportingTheUnderground