Concilium - The Oblivion of Time in the Dim Light

CONCILIUM - The Oblivion of Time in the Dim Light (PUTRID CULT - CD 2020)

This CD contains very little of any information about Concilium, you won't find here a recording date and place, line up, there are no lyrics or anything else really, except a blurry photograph of person behind Concilium and some graphics. And song titles. What I've found out was that it's a Portuguese project and that members of Necrobode and Summon are involved (both bands recorded their albums for Iron Bonehead, so some of you may be familiar with them). What you'll find on "The Oblivion of Time in the Dim Light" are four tracks closed in forty minutes of utterly obscure, noisy, harsh and morbid black metal. 

Definitely "The Oblivion of Time in the Dim Light" is not an album, which you will enjoy from the very first listen, it's abhorrent, very chaotic and noisy stuff, completely devoid of anything memorable, melodic, easy to listen to or whatever. Every song is contrary to it. Riffs and the metal parts sound insanely cacophonic, primitive and harsh, actually you can barely memorize any riffs, they produce just pure noise and even vocals sound more like sinister, frightening screams thrown here and there without much order and arrangements. These songs have no typical structure, everything is almost experimental and accidental and you just never know what will happen next. And with that malicious atmosphere, obscurity of the sound, chaos and frequent noise / ambient fillings to every song, the whole album is more like an eerie, sick soundtrack to your journey into the deepest and darkest depths of hell. Especially that all songs seem to be connected and be one lengthy piece. 

Now the question is, do I like it? Well, I'm rather hard listener and to be honest, I don't think that Concilium will ever gain my big attention. "The Oblivion of Time in the Dim Light" is not bad, it’s quite interesting piece of black metal, but after three or four listens I felt so tired with this music - probably more mentally than physically - that I really wanted to skip it and play something more "pleasant". As I mentioned, there's nothing entertaining and "normal" about "The Oblivion of Time in the Dim Light". Although I've checked some reviews from fellow webzines and all of them were very positive, but I am not sure if it's because the album is really that good or people who wrote those reviews completely lack criticism and fear it, especially if they get a free CD. Nonetheless, for me this is mediocre at best, to be honest. One thing I can admit, it hardly ever can get as extreme as this. 

Standout tracks: none 

Verdict: 60/100