When your second demo comes out on tape in the strictly limited quantity of 80, the lineup is unknown and the band declines any interviews, your band is in the running for a serious kvlt status, and black metal must be your genre. The sometimes unfortunate side effect of this approach is an unlistenable cacophony, or you can call me not underground person enough to comprehend. Fortunately, in the case of Ex Inanis Portuguese Adverso avoid the trap and the demo breathes quality.

Mostly steady, mid pace, without resorting to hyper blastbeats, Adverso delivers the effort both expansive and claustrophobic at the same time. Dense, swinging and swaying, the songs on Ex Inanis are melodic, in a strange way lullabying, due to their evolving rising progressions. Add to it the voice which is not horrid shrieks, but instead creating an impression of sinking into the quicksand and almost pacifying, plus not clean but well defined production, and the last thing Ex Inanis can be called is a cacophony. Even distortions at times here aren’t hurtful, but deliberative (Adventus).

Still, this is occult Black Metal, and Desiderium demonstrates the grimmer side of it, where things turned out to be more rushed, urgent and nervy. The tense moments (plus some shrieks) of Consummatio lead to a temporary tumbling demise, but Consummatio ends strong and muscular. Praeteritus is a stern march at the beginning, with some clean voice reminding me of Deathspell Omega, with more flow picking up as the composition unfolds.

Whoever stands behind Adverso managed to translate the vision of their soulful and willful beliefs into listenable quality music. This is proof that 80 tapes release doesn’t have to be dripping rawness to be recognized.