Délétère – Per Aspera Ad Pestilentiam

Délétère is a Quebec-based Black Metal duet, one that has been active for the past eight years. In that time they have released a pair of Demo’s, a single Full-length album, a Compilation album and most recently, an EP which the rather long title Per Aspera Ad Pestilentiam (which, apparently, translates loosely to ‘through difficulties to the pestilence’). As far as I have been able to gather (I sadly have no prior experience with the band before getting my hands on this release) Délétère have so far been expanding upon their already impressive epic Black Metal sound, still focusing upon their near-religious overtones and themes of medieval plagues and diseases. This is apparent right from the get-go, through the ritual whipping of women while several men are chanting, which is what can be heard in the short introduction to the album. After that the EP quickly gains momentum, keeping up both pace, rhythm and disease-ridden Latin phrases, all throughout all five tracks present upon Per Aspera Ad Pestilentiam (five tracks is including the short introduction). That is perhaps, I think, the single most impressive and noticeable feature of Délétère – Keeping their music constant without creating a monotone sound, yet still managing to having quite the diversity between the four actual tracks present upon the release. To call them a traditional Black Metal band would be to ignore what makes them stand out – Which tracks such as ”Le Lai de La Vermine” – is an excellent example of. What make Délétère noteworthy to me, besides their obvious abilities as musicians is the overall ambience and almost epic feel that they manage to not only create, but keep alive all throughout the album. My only real complaint regarding Per Aspera Ad Pestilentiam is the one I seem to be using the most these days: It should be siginificantly longer. That aside, it does have the added bonus that I am capable of linking to the album in its entirety, which can be found below.

Recommended for fans of Grimoire (their kinsmen).

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