Monothéïsme : Le Grand Culte Mortifère

I can’t understand what is going on in France for the last few months. From the beginning of 2014 I have received only good albums from France. One of those is the one of Sigillum Diabolicum too which is called “ Monothéïsme : Le Grand Culte Mortifère” and it was released in March of 2014. The band consists of three members and they are together for many years as they were formed in 2002 and until today thay have released one demo, one split and two full length albums. “ Monothéïsme…” is their second album which contains seven compositions of about half an hour of overall duration. Sigillum Diabolicum, as it is perceived by the title too, through this album they want to present us individually every known monotheistic religion and to pass their message to us, something that they do perfectly, both with the music of the album and with the beautiful artwork, the introductions and the samples that they have used.

So, here the listener will come across classic Black Metal full of energy, with a lot of Thrash references that in various parts they move into punk, and storming outbursts. The riffs change frequently inside the tracks both regarding the style and the way of playing giving a quite large variety to the compositions. We will come across by Thrash violent riffs, to rhythmic punk full of energy, brutal and threatening Black riffs and melodic Heavy riffs. But apart from the variety concerning the style, Sigillum Diabolicum have achieved to compose interesting melodies which catch the attention of the listener. The tracks,in terms of time, have moderate duration (about five minutes each), but in terms of quality they have the exact duration that the compositions need so that they are not tedious for the listener and at the same time to give the feeling of an integrated work. Moreover, the band has worked a lot on the structure of the tracks too in order to make all the changes in the rhythm and the in style of the riffing to be done smoothly and like it is the physical evolution of the track.

The band has made a very good job regarding their sound too. On one hand all the instruments are played flawlessly, on the other hand also the production and the mixture put out a very good sound that fits to the style of the compositions. The production is clean and has slightly underlined the bass, in combination with the balanced mixture the sound that it is coming out is full and very solid that it allows you though to listen to all the details of the composition. The guitars are clean and they put out a very massive sound, they deliver the riffs with the passion and the energy that they need. The bass can be heard clearly and its lines are quite interesting. Also for the drums the band has done a very nice job with interesting lines, which not only fill the sound. However, what stand out in this album are the vocals. Depending on the feeling, the passion and the intensity they change from screams to possessed, harsh Black Metal vocals. The singer has a very good expressing ability and he achieves to transmit to the listener all of his passion. Finally, the lyrics are written in French and they are contained in the cd and I think they describe the suffering caused by the monotheistic religions.

To sum up, the second full length work of Sigillum Diabolicum may not have any originalities or new ideas but it is offering a really well played and inspired Black Metal. The full of energy and intensity compositions, in my opinion, can’t let any Black Metal fan be indifferent. This is a very good album that it really deserves your attention. Buy it.