Album Review: Tenebra - Through Crying Souls I See What I Was…
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Tenebra was a Black Metal project, masterminded by Lord Lemoy (Arduino Punzo) which initially crept its darkened tentacles from the depths of Naples and later relocated to Sweden. This re-release of the third demo by the band was recorded, mixed, and mastered at C.F. Studios by CLB and Tenebra in May/June 2006 in Naples, Italy. First released by Neapolis Niger as limited cassette edition in 2007, the six track 25-minute release is about as raw as you could wish for. Tenebra as that time were Lord Lemoy – vocals, guitar and song writing, L (Raffaele Di Maio) – bass, Daniele Ciao – drums, Total Hate (Mauro Giacomettu -guitar) and keyboardist Count Leshrac Belmont (Mario Famularo). Described as “indifference, nihilism, a soundtrack for nowadays “danse macabre” of life slowly dragging ourselves towards certain death” by Lord Lemoy, ‘Through Crying Souls …’ sources influences from the likes of Venom and Bathory to create a maelstrom of horror.
Unrestrained and uncompromising, Tenebra’s entire raison-detre was devoted to the black metal musical genre and the lifestyle choices that accompanied it. The impending storm builds with the ‘Intro’, a short one-minute piece of keyboards and beating drum that pauses, before launching head long into the track ‘Tenebra’, which commands the vast open darkness. Machine gun drumming pounds, the vocals snarl with vitriol and the guitars raise hell with their ferocious attack. As so often with black metal, the aim appears to be unsettling. The maelstrom that slows to acoustic, gentle patterns bewildering. The rawness of this recording will no doubt be welcomed by elitists whose despair at the over produced polished workings of many black metal bands plying their wares today. Heavy on the snare, the raging inferno roars with unrestrained ferocity with the occasional synth breaking through.
For those who like their black metal old school, ‘Through Crying Souls I See What I Was…’ will no doubt be a pleasing trip back in time. A harrowing yet oddly intriguing piece of work.
