Taranis

The Obscurity

The Sign of Garazel/Luciforus Art 2008

Two labels, The Sign of Garazel and Luciforus Art, both of which have seen fit to rerelease the 1992 debut demo/album from Polish black metallers Taranis and I must say they made a wise decision.  If you are a fan, like I am, of the mystical morbidity of Samael's debut, Worship Him, then you will absolutely crawl on your hands and knees at hearing this album.  After an appropriately obscure sounding intro, The Dark Warriors rises like an ebon serpent from an ibex pool, slow riffs uncoil and monstrous echoing vocals paint a truly occult atmosphere.  Fire Absorbs The Earth continues to burn with the same creeping intensity of the previous track with some Hellhammer-ish riffs thrown into the deadly concoction as well.  Slow, methodical plodding and quirky riffs bring to mind passages from Hellhammer's Buried and Forgotten composition.  Jacques' vocals sound truly demonic in their unfeeling intensity.  The Thundering increases the tempo slightly as it alternates between a snail's pace to a lethargic gallop.  A constant rumbling power gurgling out of the guitars and drums is accented by haunting synths which forms the core of the next track, Elizabeth.  Doom for Death further melds the gruff throb of Hellhammer's guitars and the hissing frost of Samael's riffing as the track ascends from the void into a monochorme universe of occult mysticism.  To further cement the musical connection to the Swiss underlords, Taranis features a faithful rendition of Samael's Into the Pentagram.  Taranis' debut is a cold and brooding album of magickal morbidity.  An atmosphere of true evil resonates from it's every fiber.  The Obscurity is an album that conjured only images of blackness, unlight.