Hessian / Immortal Flame / Teufelsdom – Consultations of the Obscure in the Shadow of Antique Darkness – Review by Robert Mallett

Translating the aura of the Ritual into a powerful Black Metal sonic experience is no small undertaking. Switzerland’s Ancient Moon is one of the prime examples of this approach, with the music acting as the soundtrack to black masses and various other Ritual practices rather than a backdrop to a Ritual-themed stage performance.

Greek artists Acherhontas (now styled Αχέροντας) create Left Hand Path-oriented Black Metal as invocations, alchemy and rituals performed by an active magical coven, as opposed to a conventional ‘band’. Well-known occultists Cult of Fire have, similarly, built Hindu, Vedic and Buddhist ritual tradition into Black Metal compositions that are hypnotic and highly symbolic, with live appearances set as high ceremonies for the performance of Magick.

The recently released split EP by US Satanic Black Metal aggressors Hessian, Swedish Satanic warriors Immortal Flame and Russian demonologists Teufeldsdom further develops this approach with a True Cult, deadly effect. Consultations of the Obscure in the Shadow of Antique Darkness, released earlier this year, brings together three converging flames bound in a secretive cloak for dark Ritual invocation. And with a highly potent impact not for the bored dilettante.

The opening two tracks by Hessian provide the flame of invocation. The force that pierces the veil between the worlds and opens the Portal. They call forth the spirit of iron and fire, with aggressive riffing acting as the incantation, the vocals emitting blood. Track two, Call to the Iron Watchers, invokes the guardians of the threshold to occupy the Ritual Circle. So the Rite is opened.

Satanic Tony’s Immortal Flame provide the prophecy revealed by the Ritual essence, the draining of the lifeblood of the world, the drums marking out the heartbeat of a civilisation facing extinction. Here Rests the Knowledge, acting as the final tombstone of all hidden wisdom, sealed beneath centuries of dust, lost for all time.

Last up is Teufeldom’s Мертворождённый, which takes a more orthodox Black Metal approach cloaked in the ancient shadow of antiquity, closing like a stillborn demon placed on the Ritual altar. The Temple darkens; the flames arise and envelop its walls. Knowledge will die. The final darkness descends.

With repetition as focus and concentration, rhythm as ceremonial progress, guitars as sustained occult energy and voices as incantations to the entities to be summoned, Consultations of the Obscure in the Shadow of Antique Darkness is a fantastic example of Black Metal Ritual art performed as a mechanism to return all to Chaos. Collectively, they abort creation, extinguish knowledge and summon forces that enter the human sphere already dead.

For, on this excellent EP, three voices rose from the pit. One of fire, one of ash, one of ancient shadow. And together they uttered the only truth the world has ever feared: that all light ends, and all things return to the hunger beneath.