Altar Of Perversion – Intra Naos – Album Review
Brace yourselves....it's gonna be a long, cold, very bleak night!
Some 17 years in the making, Italy’s blackened emperor’s Altar Of Perversion return with Intra Naos, comprising 114 minutes(!) of music and finally following up 2001’s incredibly well received From Dead Temples (Towards the Ast’ral Path).
Why the long wait? That’ll be down to the fact that Intra Naos is is “a compelling journey into the world of Pan-European Satanism, as defined and exemplified by the Order of Nine Angles…Altar Of Perversion have literally traversed the acausal abysses and realms to come back with experiences that have been moulded into these songs. The music is a result of these real-life magickal and sinister workings”.
Hope that’s cleared things up for you.
One thing is clear, the songs on Intra Naos are fucking massive, with the shortest track clocking in at a bum-numbing, attention-challenging 13 minutes. The longest, that’ll be the 25 minute long “Through Flickering Stars, They See”.
Gulp.
Fortunately, there’s more than enough variance in tempo, mood and atmosphere to reward those who appreciate the massive effort that’s gone into this black metal opus and those who appreciate the expansive possibilities of black metal when utilised in this form. Make no mistake, Intra Naos is an astonishingly thorough piece of work, both in concept, ideology and in delivery….but (if you excuse the terminology) by Christ does it go on a bit!!”
Raw, yet experimental, you’d have to be a fully committed, fully-paid up, super-fucking-fan of metal’s blackest art to step up and take on this beast! 114 minutes in today’s attention-deficit world is equivalent to climbing Mount fuckin’ Everest but there are rewards for piggy-backing up that hill on the back of a particularly pissed off Sherpa, as long as you’re 100% willing to give yourself entirely to Intra Naos‘ satanic pleasures.
Anyone who is already familiar with the philosophy and ideology of Pan-European Sanatnism may take more from this aural work-out than we did, but those who are curious (as we were) will also revel in the sheer size and scope of a damn fine black metal album. 7/10
Intra Naos will be released on 15th April 2018 via The Ajna Offensive / Norma Evangelium Diaboli.
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