Okhema – Caerimonia Umbrae
Band: Okhema
Title: Caerimonia Umbrae
Label: Black Metal Musicians Productions
Release date: November 7th, 2024
Country: Italy
Format reviewed: CD Quality Digital Promo
How is it possible for an EP of only 22 minutes to convey endless landscapes? Caerimonia Umbrae, the latest work of Italian duo Okhema, turns into an adventurous world when played on repeat.
Already at first listen, the opening song brought me to a sense of deep connection and some kind of bittersweet melancholia. If I did not already know that the Okhema brothers are Italian, I would have been sure they had Scandinavian heritage. The familiar rhythm, the syncopated melodies in twirling variations like a dance bring out a flood of memories – but already in the first song something alien is carefully introduced. Variations grow and evolve, stretch and curl, and the circle dance turns into a maze luring me away from sense of time and space into the following tracks. I don’t even realize time has passed until the opening song starts over – and this is where the true magic happens.
As the twirls of the opening song starts over they are different. New turns, unexpected harmonies, a feeling of urgency that was not there the first time. When they flow into the second track the landscape has shifted. That opening song is a proper wardrobe to Narnia. Maybe this is the source of the bittersweetness. The vague recollection of worlds long lost. A time when any overgrown back yard could be a deep forest of adventurous realities, unbound by physical limitations. The feeling of endless possibility in limited space. Unexpected turns, surprises and hypnotic flowing segments hiding the boundaries of time.
The third time I walk through the Narnia wardrobe the forest is silent and sleeping in late fall. The fourth time snow is falling, and for the first time I notice the choirs and sampled interludes. They sound like frost on the trees. Now I start to notice the details of the composition and reflect on how it all comes together, how the same elements can give so different feelings and visual effects every spin. I think a lot has to do with the maze of the guitar work, but the following tracks are not as melodic as the first. When the maze leads out into the landscape the composition gets more subtle. Melodic guitars are still there, still telling the main story. The powerful screamed vocals complement the composition rather than taking focus. The drums create a steady flow forward, still something feels soft and comforting in the beat.
The production is clean and easy to listen to. Somehow all the elements, even the samples, come together so seamlessly I did not even notice them the first few rounds. I don’t know if the repeat-effect is intentional, or if the EP is meant to be enjoyed with a clear beginning and end, but does it matter? I recommend this EP to any listener of Swedish blackened death, and of melodic and atmospheric black metal in mid-tempo. Put it on repeat and revisit those lost worlds. 9/10 by Ask
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9/10 Epic Storm
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