Review by adhlactha on May 3, 2020.

Is there something more medieval and darker than the Blut Aus Nord’s album Deus Salutis Meæ, but in a pure sense of modern times? This album is a real joy for those who truly enjoy such mesmerizing and raw darkness. Even with this kind of dissonances and disharmonies, it is logical and complete musical album with no boundaries in extreme music genre. And even with the love of French for innovations (in music as well), Deus Salutis Meæ can’t be counted as one more avant-garde black metal record.

So what is so unique with this record? The band intricately combines the raw black attitude with psychedelic background, but industrial moments visibly add some noise to the record. The dark and creepy introductions (like whole instrumental songs as well) are long enough to prepare you for ultimate heaviness, but even their ambient passages are created to affect you psychologically. And the multiple use of vocal layers intensifies the blackness and eeriness. The screams and whispered emotional shrieks just finish off this total atmosphere of dark destruction. There is no vitality in this record, but still it’s dynamic, even if rhythms vary from almost inactive abstract ambient compositions to energetic and fast black metal fury (like on 'Apostasis') with shrieking guitar solos. There are special effects, and it’s done purposefully to reflect more canonical black metal sound; of course it’s not so raw as for example on Darkthrone’s records, but nonetheless there you won’t find cleanliness on the sound. Frequent stillness almost guides the album on doom metal path, though there is more black metal influence, but the band never chased to fit in musical styles’ rules. Technically the compositional structures are complicated, so that adds the whole abstract progressiveness. Everything is important here – raw sound, noise elements, multiple vocals of Vindsval, disharmonic and atmospheric ambience, because the entire complex creates this hopeless and horrifying atmosphere with no compromises. It’s built on contrasts, so that’s why this record is so deep and emotional (but only in a dark sense).

French extreme music has always progressed in unique and individual pattern, even with Les Légions Noires they created their exceptional black metal (but of course under influence of Norwegian black metal), and now even more bands break the boundaries of style. And Blut Aus Nord on the record Deus Salutis Meæ proved that they are one of the most intriguing and strong members of European experimental extreme community.

Rating: 9.3 out of 10