Review by Felix on August 26, 2024.

I am always skeptical when it comes to black metal from the United States. The only album which really grabs me by the collar is Häxanu’s “Snare Of All Salvation”. But now Sapientia Diaboli enters the stage – only one artist with the programmatic synonym Formless runs this project and his approach lies in close proximity to the one of Häxanu’s masterpiece. He delivers an opaque, intensive, mostly fast-paced soundscape which can be understood as the embodiment of total darkness. This is a more than solid fundament, even though I Ov The Darkness does not lead the listener through many layers to the deepest core of the genre. This is what made “Snare Of All Salvation” that great. I Ov The Darkness is comparatively flat, but it also creates a proper inferno. Thus, the United States will probably never become a major power in the genre, but they are learning.

Coming back to the album, the vocals are a very striking component here. Distorted and with a lot of reverb on it, the voice is almost an additional instrument, but no (human) voice anymore. The vocals do not throne over the other components, but the intention to make them sound utterly cruel puts them into the focus. Sometimes they almost coalesce with the sinister guitars whose sound is not very transparent. However, the guitars and the vocals dominate while the drums almost get lost in the big picture from time to time. But that’s no big deal, we are speaking about a black metal underground release and therefore the production fits the style.

In contrast to some black / doom metal formations, our sole artist has understood that high velocity and a beastly appearance are important factors in increasing the quality of the single songs. Therefore tracks like 'When Skies Are Riven' spread their venomous flavour in an appropriate manner. The stubbornness of Formless on the one hand and the dehumanized vocals on the other hand make I Ov The Darkness to a kind of mechanized answer to Bathory’s debut. But it is not just the vocals – 'In The Halls Of The Shadow Choir' sends greetings from an industrial hell with transcendental vibrations. Anyway, the pretty primitive song structures underline the impression that Formless has the young Quorthon in his heart. Okay, his first full-length cannot completely compete with the legendary 28-minute album from 1984. Nevertheless, we get a couple of really sinister tracks with some abysmal guitar lines. Especially the comparatively long and diabolic closer 'The Dreaded One' leads the listener into the abyss directly, even though it houses a silent, well-executed intermezzo (which is quickly wiped away by the next infernal outbreak). Finally, some of the tracks do not only bring Bathory, but also Canada’s Megiddo to my mind. However, one needs a weakness for truly raw black metal to enjoy this release.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10