Review by Felix on October 13, 2022.

Doom and black metal have one thing in common. Their offerings profit from a nice portion of opulence. Doom songs with a duration of less than three minutes are no songs, only fragments, and the same applies for the devilish subgenre. It is no wonder that the best black metal album ever, “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, presents seven songs with a length of five minutes plus. Unfortunately, Ondfødt are not aware of this rule and give the audience eleven songs in 35 minutes. Thus, maybe you feel the same as I do when listening to this work: I miss a higher dose of profound depth.

But maybe I am just an old fool to judge a work by its technical parameters. The music itself is of higher relevance, isn’t it? Good news, already the eerie intro sets the stage and both “Den sanna” and “Fri från slaveri” offer a wide range from the spectrum of typical Nordic black metal. Bulky riffing as well as flattening guitars lines, various tempos of the drums, precisely set breaks and throaty vocals. Both songs are based on an almost perfect flow. Therefore they leave no doubt that Ondfødt are talented composers who do not need to fear the legions of Scandinavian competitors. In addition, the mix lends the songs the necessary aura. “Dödsrikets kallelse” sounds aggressive, sinister and violent, although it does not lack professionalism in any way.

The Finnish trio is not looking for innovation. True black hearts love the style they play and are not very interested in experiments. The result is coherent. Almost all tracks reach a solid level at least, even the partly ambient instrumental on position ten does not fall through the net. Okay, the cover song at the end begins like a beerdrinker anthem, but it gets better as it progresses. Additionally, some standard mid-tempo parts have been heard many times before, for example the one at the end of “Födömd i evihejt”, but I don’t want to be too picky. This is still a great song (and more convincing than the following ”Midnatt” with its Viking metal compatible melody line at the beginning. But the pretty harsh instrumental section sounds very vital and makes the entire song much better).

“No ere jo Satan” is the shortest “full” track (2:22) and it is a good one, no doubt about it. But honestly speaking, just as it’s gaining momentum and atmosphere, it’s over. Is this black metal for people with attention deficits who cannot concentrate on whatever for more than two minutes? “Nerdreji I mörkri” is another present for this dubious target group. It holds some great, icy guitar lines, but it collapses before the three-minute mark. As said above, the creative three-piece does not lack talent, but it could make more of its gifts from Satan. On “Dödsrikets kallelse”, the performance is enough for 75%, but a small bitter aftertaste remains.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Michael on December 5, 2023.

Finally, eight long years after the stunning debut Charnel Passages the guys from Cruciamentum have mercy on us and serve up their eagerly awaited follow-up Obsidian Refractions. A very morbid cover accompanies their music and if it was back in the 80s this would have been a must-have album just because of this. The music hasn't changed too much in comparison to the debut. I mean, a band who names the opener after the title of the debut won't put too much effort into the music or do something differently… will they?

Wrong!! Obsidian Refractions is about 45 minutes of rotten, cavernous vile old school death metal that bands such as Krypts or Spectral Voice do as well. The vocals are full of hatred and spread a very eerie atmosphere. The drums are thundering full of pressure and give the album a very aggressive and intense touch. And the guitars….. the leads are pretty energetic and absolutely sick like Morbid Angel did back on “Altars Of Madness” and “Blessed Are The Sick” (listen to ‘Scorn Manifestation’ for example). But the band has a very chaotic complexity that it sometimes makes it hard to follow although you never feel confused while listening to their stuff. The breaks and turns are just pretty unbelievable or even astonishing and the details in the songs are so lovely composed and sophisticated (or should I say hatefully?) that this might explain why the band took so long to release some new music. But apart from these features, also some more melodic elements crept in into their music (especially concerning the guitar work) and sometimes even some very tasteful keyboard elements here and there and even some death-doom parts that remind me personally pretty much of Demigods masterpiece “Slumber Of Sullen Eyes”.

The sinister atmosphere goes like a common thread through the whole six songs although it is really hard to point out what makes this evilness out. Is it the vocals with the often double-layered voice, is it the hypnotical keyboard like in ‘Drowned’ or is it the battering drums? Maybe it’s the sometimes slight dissonant guitar that feels like rubbing salt into a wound, or maybe it is all those combined together? Well, it is really hard to say. All I know is that this album overflows with negative energy, morbidity and hatred.

You don't believe me? Just check the last song on the album (‘Drowned’). Apart from the fact that it is (with over 10 minutes running time) their longest one on the album, in it you will find all the trademarks which I described. It is a song that fully pulls you in and won’t leave you unimpressed. You can be sure of that! For me, this one together with the latest Vastum are the masterpieces concerning real death metal.

Rating: 9 out of 10 hateful refractions