OFERMOD are one of the OGs of the Swedish black metal scene, dating all the way back to 1996. Despite that, this new album, their fifth, is the first one I’ve really listened to. Guess I’ll have to look up the back catalog, because Mysterium Iniquitatis is about as pure and classic a Nordic black metal album as I’ve heard this year.
These guys hit all the right notes here…everything just sounds pure. It’s not the most extreme sound, but it’s far from commercial – there’s melody, but also brutality – there’s variety, with each song having its own identity. That covers a lot of the bases for me. The opening title track has such a simple, elemental hook to it, cold, direct, dark, but there’s better to come. Second cut ‘Inax Ya Lil’ increases speed and power, but has such a cool method of adding choir-like voices to the attack that the effect is really quite beguiling. ‘When The BlackSmith Killed The Shepherd’ is an essential Swedish black metal cut, like something you’d expect to find in an encyclopedia article describing the genre, and ‘Arrteria Uterina’ has a hammering, grooving hook that really sinks in deep.
This is how OFERMOD operates. ‘Sancrosanctus’ is reminiscent of prime MARDUK in its blunt aggression as is ‘Poraios de Rejectis’…just pure cold black metal with memorable riffing. The last two cuts are a bit more on the “epic” side, with ‘Consecration’ having an odd interlude of extremely noisy industrial type riffing and a profane chorus. From front to back, this album ticks all the boxes for quality black metal.
Time to look up some old OFERMOD! And hope album number six doesn’t take too long to show up…
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
OFERMOD
Mysterium Iniquitatis
Shadow Records
4.5 / 6