Morte Incandescente – “…Your Funeral” – [Elegy Records]

abacus   12/2/2013   A Library, CD

Melodic black metal? Is that a thing? Either way this is an equally beautiful and terrifying 2003 debut album from Portugal’s most loyal satanists. Don’t let the ‘melodic’ scare you away; while there are some poignant harmonies weaving together the wretched guitar riffage, there’s also some chunkier, crustier punctuations to the onslaught and the agonizing demon scowls and pounding drums that make this not very nice music. In fact, the painful poetry written by the mysterious Lucy Waters contains the most disgustingly decrepit descriptions of desire, disembowelment, decadence and all sorts of devilish deeds. Some of the songs seem to be about some lost love and the overwhelmingly vengeful inclinations the author has. Track 8 is especially telling, a slowed down ballad of silent suffering and Twisted misery. With the whole album bookended by instrumental allegros, it feels like a sort of BM opera; one that I’m sure would include lots of blood and fire.