ALBUM REVIEW: Revenant Marquis – Below The Landsker Line

REVENANT MARQUIS return with their 5th offering of torturous Raw Black Metal depravity. Out on March 21st via Death Kvlt Productions and Inferna Profundus Records.

Subtle ambience begins our tormenting journey with a melancholy simplicity, setting the tone for the anguish ahead while retaining a certain mystique. Bleak riffs and crashing cymbals erupt into a sombre dissonant drawl, with a droning and ritualistic sound that is unmistakably depressive and harsh, accentuated by the cathartic and miserable vocals joining the mix. Reverberate and cacophonous as ever, Revenant Marquis has always felt like a more legitimately dark force in Raw Black Metal that invokes a powerful and potent presence of suffering and occultism. Shimmering guitars entwine with distorted drums to conjure a demonic instrumental presence as the vocal incantations are spewed forth with isolating and harsh energies. As expected, the mix is trebly and thin which allows the warped and warbling vitriol to retain that punishing quality that is to be expected from the single-figure project. What is interesting to note about Revenant Marquis is the lack of imagery and sonic cues taken from Les Legions Noire, further isolating this underground gems radiant unpleasantries into a field of its own. While the DSBM tag isn’t really a fitting way to describe the sound, the self-torturing approach to crafting songs seems ever present in these unhallowed rites.

The wailing ambience continues with sparse and spectral energies flooding forth from each offering in a way that seems to contrast being directionless and yet filled with a mysterious intent. It is clear the music was composed very organically, likely not overdubbing or retaking, which I do not mean shows lack of skill but rather a fluidly drawn out atmosphere that doesn’t dissipate or get cut short. Betwixt the slumbering sombreness we see some rabid aggression and bitterly intoxicating Black Metal of a more traditional approach on tracks such as “Children Of The Abyss” which to me is the fiercest and strongest piece of the six alongside “At The Master’s Hand” which is equally potent and despairing with plenty of ferocity as well. Blending that harrowing and destructive emotional darkness with the barbaric and untamed aggressive side of the project in perfect harmony, this to me represents the best of what Revenant Marquis has to offer. Indeed there are moments the dawdle away into the abyss but these do not feel like meagre filler material, rather an insightful and genuine sense of urgency is retained to the utmost.

Revenant Marquis may not be a band that every Black Metal fan will necessarily get with their torturously grim and raw soundscapes of depravity. However, I feel the darkness present is palpably legitimate and that shall appeal to those seeking a genuine experience rather than some plain and predictable recording. This is certainly a soundtrack to despair though not in a self-pitying or placid manner.