One heart we are, one essence we are, the witches’ spirit we share… Let’s walk the Diabolical Path…
Spiritus Maleficarum is a special EP, presented ‘on the eve of Walpurgis Night’ to celebrate this project’s two decades of ceremonial ritualism and abyssal occultism. It was released on Corona Barathri’s own label Speculum Diaboli Records, which does celebrate its fifth anniversary as well this year. The better part was executed and produced by Ilya ‘Affectvs’ Za’am, once more assisted by Infernvs (on guitars). It’s a digital-only release, finished once more by Ronald Mariën’s mastering duties, and coming with truly stunning, metaphorical cover artwork by long-time collaborator Fosco Culto (Lamia Culta). It’s a purest form of symbolic visual artistry once more, quite unusual yet ingeniously detailed.
The label describes this three-tracker as a dedication ‘to the crown of Sabbat of Walpurgis Night, to fury of Dark Force in the mysteries of Awakening of Leviathan. This is a ritual communion through the sound canvas to Spirit and Force - Melek Ha-Khoshekh’. It’s a twenty-five minutes long decorum, floating into the magic and mysterious universe of Corona Barathri’s known aural spectrum.
Corona Sabbathi (07:12) opens with an unholy prayer, i.e. spoken words (both male and female) to praise the Horned One (done in the ancient Latin language), accompanied by eldritch waves of noise at the background. Soon cleaner chants join, performed by Alexandra Fauho (from Huld; with a modest Hekte Zaren timbre) and slowly the synths evolve and expand. Step by step other elements penetrate the ceremony: shamanistic drums and different percussions, additional keyboard-layers, and several enigmatic vocal levels (chanting, evocative, seductive, mesmerizing). Towards the end, things seem to wither and fade, yet while still maintaining that oppressive, even claustrophobic post-dimensional and high-spiritual atmosphere up to the very last seconds.
Sort of the main theme is the second epos, Chorea Barathri: Walpurgis Noctem (08:55), which opens as well with a Satanic incantation by Ilya. Not that unusual, this track comes with acoustic strings within the opening sequence, yet it offers deep drones and haunting synth-lines too, on top of the multiple female (done by Alexandra) voices. At three minutes and something, things shortly evolve towards a semi-exotic ballad, with energetic drum patterns, oriental chants and occult hints, adding a fine touch of archaic Persian / Mesopotamian / … mystique. After a while, everything first seems to collapse into a suffocative compactness, before evicting into another hypnotic and dark-transcendental finale, once again led by monotonous droning soundscapes, fine acoustic guitars, and the addition of field-recorded samples (hear the crows).
The EP ends with an instrumental version of Princeps Terrae Atrae (08:55), which offers both melancholy and combativeness. Shamanic, trancelike drums and haunting synth harmonies paint a desolate yet broad landscape, with a multi-colored palette of contrasting shades. There is a grim tension, sometimes even horrific in nature, as this composition evolves. At about five minutes, the rumbling percussions reappear, creating an onerous energy, assembled with serene and esoteric yet alluring synth-waves, somehow intrinsic yet ominous for sure. That aspect of impending calamity gets fortified by the short spoken word fragment, as well as the sinister throat-singing at the very end.
Soon a review on another new Corona Barathri work, Immersio In Caliginam, will follow (just awaiting the official confirmation / date)…
https://corona-barathri.bandcamp.com/album/spiritus-maleficarum-ep-20th-anniversary
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/corona-barathri
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/corona-barathri-1
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/corona-barathri-2
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/corona-barathri-3
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/corona-barathri-emme-ya
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/corona-barathri-melek-tha
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/corona-barathri-paranoia-inducta