Carpe Tenebrum

Mirrored Hate Painting (Hammerheart)
by Scott Hefflon

Miss the old, ugly hyperspeed blasts of pure black metal? As the genre gets more symphonic and melodic (not to mention slower and more eager to embrace thrash and melodic heavy metal), there’s certainly a need for bands that still rage like hyperactive demons. Hence Carpe Tenebrum, the solo project of Astennu, who’s worked with Dimmu Borgir, Covenant/The Kovenant, and Nocturnal Breed. Originally from Australia, his current home in Norway seems to’ve rubbed off on him nicely. Noisy and overflowing with a non-stop barrage of rapidly-picked guitars, blastbeat drumming, and snakespit vocals, Carpe Tenebrum is a testament to the origins of black metal, using keyboards buried in the background, wild mayhem guitarwork, and plenty of demon roars, echo, delay, and all the trappings of mid-’90s black metal. And, to make this frantic cacophony that much more enticing, vocals are provided by Nagash (Dimmu Borgir, Covenant) and production is by top-notch twiddler Peter Tagtren.
(PO Box 738 Syosset, NY 11791)