Reviews: SAT390

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Hibernum arises again from the darkest depths of Croatia with its debut album Djavo set to see the shadowed light of day on May 15th in a co-release by Satanath Records (Georgia) and InsArt Records (UK).

 

The solo work of one Insanus, Hibernum first emerged in the early 2000s with a debut EP (Cold and Worse) divulged in 2003. Decades passed, and Hibernum surfaced again with a 2020 single that featured Knjaz (Zvijer, Sahrana) on vocals.

 

Now comes the Djavo album, and to help introduce it we’re premiering its second advance song, “Belial (The Lord Of The Earth)“.

 

The pair of labels that will release the album describe it as “raw black metal with an avant-garde edge… a sound that is both dark and relentless, challenging listeners while evoking a profound sense of unease and introspection”.

 

The song that’s our focus today does indeed bear some of the hallmarks of raw black metal. It includes furious blizzards of corrosive riffage, thunderous percussive blasting, and crazed howls and screams. It immediately surges ahead with turbocharged fury and a wild energy that’s vast in its expanse.

 

But unlike most raw black metal, there’s also clarity in the guitar layers and intricacy in their roiling and writhing madness. Moreover, the riffing shifts repeatedly, ecstatically swirling high in glorious fire-bright tones and boiling in sounds of desperation, and the rhythms shift as well, with the drums settling into sharp snaps and erupting in vivid fills.

 

About halfway through, the pace also changes. As the speed slows, the guitars ring out and glitter, creating an atmosphere that’s almost dreamlike yet also sorrowful, backed by electrifying drum patterns. Those ringing melodies, moody and mystical, persist as the drums ramp up to full speed again and those wild vocals explode again in malice and wretchedness — and finally sing with passion.

 

And so the song proves to be a dynamic and multi-faceted experience, and a very engrossing and impressive one.

 

https://www.nocleansinging.com/2025/05/02/an-ncs-premiere-hibernum-belial-the-lord-of-the-earth/