Album Review: Shade Sanctum Mountains – Beneath the Silence Colossus

Band: Shade Sanctum Mountains
Title: Beneath the Silence Colossus
Label: Independent
Release date: February 27th, 2026
Country: Chile
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording

Album Review: Shade Sanctum Mountains – Beneath the Silence Colossus by Sílvia

Shade Sanctum Mountains is the new solo project of Vjort, a Chilean musician (who’s also responsible for playing all instruments in the band Inquisitors of Darkness, where Grindor does the vocals). In this new endeavor, Vjort does everything, all the instruments and vocals, and he dresses his music with rawness and also with a desolate atmosphere, thanks to the repetitive icy tremolo riffs and the layered vocals.

This music carries the listener to a hostile land, and the lyrics depict the harsh conditions of that region: an arid and suffocating desert, in brutal contrast with dangerous frozen mountains, each of them with extreme weather conditions, of course. In this land there’s no smoothness, no mercy for those who dare to wander around. And Vjort knows very well about it because he’s from the Atacama region in Chile, where the desert and the high mountains, even a volcano (Ojos del Salado), are side by side and with no doubt they shape the personality of their inhabitants with all its harshness.

The music and the vocals go very well together, the instruments serve as the ideal base where the vocals reveal all the hostile characteristics of the territory they refer to, through lyrics. Playing icy cold riffs and abrupt changes in tempo in the songs, there’s a big sense of endurance in a hostile environment, at times with fast and furious drum kicks, other times with a more atmospheric approach. Vocals are mostly harsh and there’s a use of different layers together, which accentuates the cold feeling. It’s because of the tone of the predominant voice, almost shrieking all the time. I like that the bass is not a mere filler, in fact is really audible and these low notes are the counterpoint to the sharp riffs, which is totally needed.

What I find most impressive is the ease with which Vjort conveys that coldness, that hostile nature, through his music. The result is very powerful and the listener gets wrapped in his particular sonic journey. 8/10

Band
Instagram
Bandcamp
Deezer
Spotify

8/10 To Greatness and Glory!
**Please support the underground! It’s vital to the future of our genre**
#WeAreBlessedAltarZine
#TheZineSupportingTheUnderground