German duo Mortuus Infradaemoni here present album number two, following on from 2007’s Daemon Qui Fecit Terram. Featuring former members of Lunar Aurora, the band has a very chaotic sound somewhat akin to recent Gorgoroth, blasting drums and tapping cymbals over wall-of-noise guitars and occasional howled vocals, sometimes adding ‘spooky’ sound effects to try and create a bit of atmosphere, although first track Obscuritas Ubique Et In Aeternum stops and starts in a surprisingly modern manner. Really, there’s not a great deal of variety throughout; most tracks start slowly before switching to blasting, and then continuing to blast.

Of course, it’s not as dull as it sounds. There’s nearly a threatening atmosphere running beneath the surface that arises at moments, the title track one example, where distant yelps become more and more audible as the song progresses – the changes in riff and tempo help, too. Overall, however, I’m struggling to describe Imis Avernis in a complimentary manner at all, especially since it runs at just over an hour. Label Cold Dimensions on the press release describe the album as “nine irritating echoes of the hidden cosmos between life and death,” which is vague enough to be relevant here, but doesn’t help much, especially since Mortuus Infradaemoni aren’t really annoying. Honestly, they don’t cause much reaction in me at all, which isn’t a good sign for a Black Metal band, especially one that has long tracks and is rooted in the great likes of Lunar Aurora. Listening to anything for an hour, uninterrupted, you’d think that it becomes gripping from sheer repetition, but alas I found it hard to get into this at all.

Bluntly, whatever that vital spark that separates great Black Metal from the rest is, what takes the music and propels it beyond a racket made by grown men in panda make-up, that ineffable something is here missing. Newcomers to Black Metal may get more from it than those who have heard this kind of music many times before, but then newcomers to Black Metal probably won’t be delving this deep in the underground. So, Mortuus Infradaemoni is ultimately nothing offensive, but nothing that you’ll enjoy enough to make the hunt for it worthwhile. Move along; nothing to see here.