Black Cilice
Mysteries
Iron Bonehead Productions
Street: 01.30
Black Cilice = Striborg + Belketre + Master’s Hammer
 
The scornful, mysterious and raw Portuguese black metal band Black Cilice is not for those afraid of getting their ears spattered in filth, or of recordings made outside of a professional studio setting (the word for these types escapes me … oh yeah, pussies). All the instruments slightly blend together, but this isn’t to the listening experience in any detrimental way—au contraire, each acts as a limb of an evil, angry, lo-fi Voltron. The vocals howl like a lycanthrope on a full-moon night, and any intelligible words are lost within a stream of ghastly effects and pulsing reverberation. Choral keyboards add a melancholic mortar to the wall of majestic yet vile sound, and the result is a grim, atmospheric assault which makes for a satisfying spin. My only gripe is that Mysteries is my first exposure to this kick-assery. I hereby christen Black Cilice: “Lycanthropic Black Metal.” Damn. I should get a T-shirt for coming up with that. –Alex Coulombe